What do you do for Christmas ?

No matter what I said or tried to organize, Mum would not desist

I never really thought about it that much until my best friend told me her Mother did exactly the same thing. Our Mother's are in their mid 80s. They lived through the Depression and World War II.

As a child, my Mum lived in a semi-rural area. Most of their house block was under Veggies grown by my Grandfather when he wasn't at the War or a POW for 3 years. My Grandmother used milk from their cow to make her own butter. She cooked everything from scratch. Her scones, pikelets, bickies and cakes were legendary!

Mum's family had no electricity, no TV, no car, no canned food - no luxuries. They reused and re-purposed or handed down whatever they had.

Most toys were simple like marbles, knuckle bones, hoops, skipping ropes and balls. Dolls and Billy Carts were hand made from scrounged materials. There were not many spare pennies for lollies or ice cream.

Unemployment was 32%, suicide rates were high, jobs were scarce as was food. Families were evicted as they couldn't afford their rent and along with many unemployed men took to the road as Swagmen looking for work in the countryside.

My Mum grew up in tough times, left school at 13, worked hard and as a result could manage on very little. She was self reliant, independent, practical and stoic.

No wonder my Mum wouldn't give up her role of caring for her family by continuing to cook Christmas Lunch !

Louise Smith     PSYCHOLOGIST  (Assoc MAPS) (QCT), B. A. (Hons) (Psych) (Japanese & Music), Dip. T. Prim. & Spec. Ed.(Hearing Impaired)

Enoggera Health Practice  - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia     

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