MOTHERS’ DAYS
In a previous chapter some description was given of the way in which the
women arrange their work. It is the province of this chapter to describe
in greater detail the “days” of several of the women—mounting up, as
they do gradually from the day of the young mother of one baby to that
of the worn woman of thirty-eight with eight children under thirteen.
Washing-day was not considered fair by the mothers. They said, “You’d
expeck ter be a bit done-like washin’-day;” so an ordinary day was
chosen in every case. They anxiously explained that the time-table form
in which the visitor took the day wasn’t fair either because, “You jest
as likely as not get a bit be’ind if ’indered.” But the subject was so
richly interesting, and led up to such absorbing anecdotes when left to
the mothers’ taste in method, that the time-table form had to be used in
self-protection by the visitor. The following is a specimen of a mother’s
way of telling it:
“Me young man ’as ter be up abart five. E’s a fair whale at sleep. If I
didn’t wake ’im ’e’d be late all the days in the year: _I_ tell yer. E’
come ’ome abart six, ’n soon’s ’e’s ’ad ’is tea ’e’s that sleepy agen
you’d ’ardly get a word off ’im.” Gently reminded here that it is her own
day that is required, she continues: “Oh, me? Well, I tells yer I wakes
’im at five. I ’as ter give ’im a good thump, an’ ’e gets up quiet-like
if ’e can; but ’e generly can’t, an’ then the kids begin talkin’, an’ I
’as a fair job ter keep ’em in bed. See that one with red ’air—’e’s a
fair treat in the mornin’s,” etc.
The first day given is that of a young mother aged twenty, with her first
baby—a fat, round morsel who may be called well cared for after the
initial disadvantage of living with its parents in one small and dismal
room has been recognised. The young mother owns a large sewing-machine,
of which she is intolerably proud. As Lambeth mothers’ days go, hers is a
very easy one.
6.0.—Get up and light fire.
6.15.—Wake husband, who has to be off by seven; get his breakfast.
6.30.—Give him his breakfast, and while he eats it, nurse baby.
7.0.—When he has gone, put baby down and eat breakfast.
7.30.—Wash up; do a little washing every day for baby; air bed; carry
down dirty water; bring fresh up from yard (second floor).
8.30.—Baby wakes; give her a bath and dress her; nurse her; let her lie
and kick while sweeping room and blacking grate and scrubbing stairs;
make bed; carry baby out, and do shopping for dinner.
11.0.—Come in and nurse baby; get dinner ready.
12.15.—Husband comes in; give him dinner. He leaves a few minutes to one
o’clock.
1.0.—Wash up, and nurse baby; take her out for a walk, if fine, for as
long as can bear it. She is heavy. Come in when time to nurse her again,
and sit down to sew. Make all her clothes and most of own, and mend
husband’s.
4.30.—Get tea ready and cook relish.
5.0.—Husband comes in; give him tea, and help him clean himself in warm
water; wash up and carry down dirty water, and bring up clean water.
6.0.—Nurse baby and get her to bed; husband not strong, and likes to go
to bed early; sit and sew till time to nurse baby at nine o’clock. Get
everything ready for morning.
9.30.—Go to bed.
One week in every three the husband works at night, instead of the day.
The wife finds this less convenient for her, and is certain that it
over-strains him, as he cannot sleep properly in the day, though she
tries to be as quiet as ever she can. But the baby is bound to disturb
him, as the room is very small. During this week, dinner is whenever
he gets up, and all the cleaning and washing has to be squeezed in
afterwards.
The next case is that of Mrs. O., who has but two children alive, both
very young. Two rooms have to be looked after, and extremely well looked
after, for Mr. O. is the gentleman who keeps 5s. a week out of 25s.,
and expects 4s. 4d. a week spent on his own extra food. He likes the
place nice, and cannot see that his wife need ever go out except for
the purpose of buying the family food. He believes that women are prone
to extravagance in dress, and does not encourage Mrs. O. in any such
nonsense. When it was necessary that she should come once a fortnight to
the weighing centre, to have the baby weighed, the price of a pair of
boots had to be saved out of several weeks’ food, much to the annoyance
of Mr. O., who could not understand why any of his family should ever
leave the two rooms where they live.
Her day runs as follows:
7.0.—Get up and get husband’s breakfast; nurse baby while he has it.
7.30.—He goes to work. Get little girl dressed, get her breakfast, and
have it with her.
8.0.—Wash up.
8.30.—Get baby’s bath and wash and dress him.
9.0.—Nurse him and put him to sleep.
9.30.—Do beds and sweep bedroom, and carry up water (first floor).
11.0.—Start to make little girl a frock till baby wakes; nurse him when
he does.
12.15.—Get dinner for self and child ready (husband has dinner away from
home).
1.0.—Have dinner.
1.30.—Nurse baby and clear away and wash up dinner things. Sweep and
scrub floor and passage, clean grate; every other week do stairs.
2.30.—Wash myself and little girl, and take children out till four.
4.0.—Get tea and nurse baby.
4.30.—Clear away, and get husband’s tea; wait for him till he comes in;
very uncertain, between five and seven o’clock; go on making frock till
he does.
6.0.—Put children to bed.
6.30.—Wash up husband’s tea things, if he has finished. As soon as he has
finished, he changes and goes out.
8.0.—Go up The Walk for shopping for next day, leaving children in bed.
9.0.—Mend husband’s clothes, and go on with frock till ten.
10.0.—Nurse baby and make both children comfortable for the night.
11.0.—If husband has come in, go to bed.
This is not a hard day as things go in Lambeth. The noticeable thing
about it is its loneliness. Mrs. O. knows nothing of her neighbours, and,
until the visitor insisted on the children’s getting out every afternoon,
and agitated for the boots, Mrs. O. never took them out. She did her
shopping at night in order that her old slippers might not be seen. She
sat indoors and mended and made clothes in her neat room, while her pale
little girl amused herself as best she could and the baby lay on the
bed. The husband merely ate and slept at home. He was a particularly
respectable and steady man, who kept his clothes neat and his person
scrupulously clean. His wife ministered to him in every way she could,
but saw nothing of him. He took no interest in the little daughter, but
was proud of the boy, and it was by means of the boy’s need of fresh air
that he was persuaded to allow his wife to save for her boots. For her he
did not consider them necessary, as he was in favour of women staying at
home and minding the house.
The next day is that of a woman who lives in one room in buildings,
with her husband and four children. She is rather self-assertive and
talkative, very clean, rougher in her manner of speaking to her children
than most of the mothers, but very affectionate to both children and
husband. Her old mother, whom she partially feeds, is a great deal with
her, and helps in the household work. Her day is rather an easy one for
Lambeth. The eldest child is eight years old, and the baby is a few
months. As the room is in “buildings,” she has water on the same level,
so has not to carry it up or down stairs.
4.30.—Wake husband, who has to be at work about five o’clock. He is
carman for an L.C.C. contractor. Get him off if possible without waking
the four children. He has a cup of tea before going, but breakfasts away
from home. If baby wakes, nurse him.
7.0.—Nurse baby.
7.15.—Get up and light fire, wake children, wash two eldest ones. Get
breakfast for self and children.
8.0.—Breakfast.
8.30.—Tidy two children for school and start them off at 8.45.
9.0.—Clear away and wash up; wash and dress boy of three; bathe and dress
baby.
10.0.—Nurse baby and put him to bed.
10.30.—Turn down beds, clean grate, scrub floor.
11.30.—Make beds.
12.0.—Mother, who has done the marketing, brings in the food; begin to
cook dinner.
12.15.—Children all in, lay dinner, and, with mother’s help, tidy
children for it.
1.0.—Dinner, which mother serves while Mrs. G. nurses baby who wakes
about then.
1.30.—Tidy children for school again.
1.45.—Start them off and sit down with mother to their own dinner; wash
up, tidy room, clean themselves.
3.0.—Go out, if it is not washing-day or day for doing the stairs, with
baby and boy of three.
3.45.—Come in and get tea for children. Put boy of three to sleep, nurse
baby.
4.15.—Children come in.
4.30.—Give children tea.
5.0.—Wash up and tidy room. Tidy children and self.
6.0.—Take up boy of three and go out for a “blow in the street” with all
four children.
7.0.—Come in and put children to bed. Nurse baby.
7.30.—Husband returns; get his supper.
8.0.—Sit down and have supper with him.
8.30.—Clear away and wash up. Sew while husband goes to bed. “Talk wile
’e’s doin’ it.”
9.0.—Send mother off. Get everything ready for the morning. Mend
husband’s clothes as soon as he gets them off.
10.0.—Nurse baby and go to bed.
We now come to the day of a mother of six children, with two rooms to
keep. Mrs. T., whose menu has already been given, is the wife of a
builder’s handyman on 25s. a week. The two rooms are upstairs in a small
house, and, as there is no water above the ground floor, Mrs. T. has a
good deal of carrying of heavy pails of water both upstairs and down.
She is gentle and big and slow, never lifts her voice or gets angry,
but seems always tired and dragged. She is very clean and orderly. Her
husband is away all day; but he dislikes the noise of a family meal, and
insists on having both breakfast and tea cooked specially for himself,
and eats alone.
6.0.—Nurses baby.
6.30.—Gets up, calls five children, puts kettle on, washes “necks” and
“backs” of all the children, dresses the little ones, does hair of three
girls.
7.30.—Gets husband’s breakfast, cooks bloater, and makes tea.
8.0.—Gives him breakfast alone, nurses baby while he has it, and cuts
slices of bread and dripping for children.
8.30.—He goes, gives children breakfast, sends them off to school at
8.50, and has her own.
9.0.—Clears away and washes up breakfast things.
9.30.—Carries down slops, and carries up water from the yard; makes beds.
10.0.—Washes and dresses baby, nurses him, and puts him to bed.
11.0.—Sweeps out bedroom, scrubs stairs and passage.
12.0.—Goes out and buys food for the day. Children home at 12.15.
12.30.—Cooks dinner; lays it.
1.0.—Gives children dinner and nurses baby.
1.45.—Washes hands and faces, and sees children off to school.
2.0.—Washes up dinner things, scrubs out kitchen, cleans grate, empties
dirty water, and fetches more clean from yard.
3.0.—Nurses baby.
3.30.—Cleans herself and begins to mend clothes.
4.15.—Children all back.
4.30.—Gives them tea.
5.0.—Clears away and washes up, nurses the baby, and mends clothes till
6.30.
6.30.—Cooks husband’s tea.
7.0.—Gives husband tea alone.
7.30.—Puts younger children to bed.
8.0.—Tidies up, washes husband’s tea things, sweeps kitchen, and mends
clothes, nurses baby, puts elder children to bed.
8.45.—Gets husband’s supper; mends clothes.
10.0.—Nurses baby, and makes him comfortable for the night.
10.30.—Goes to bed.
The last “day” is that of the woman who has eight children under
thirteen. The fact that her husband works at night enables the family to
sleep seven in one room—the mother and five children by night and the
husband by day; in the other bedroom three older children sleep in a
single bed. This woman is tall and would be good-looking if her figure
were not much misshapen. She has quantities of well-washed hair, and good
teeth; but her face is that of a woman of fifty. She is thirty-eight.
She can stand very little advice or argument, and simply does not listen
when either are offered to her. She seems always to be hearing a baby
wake, or correcting a child of two, or attending to the soiled face of
the little girl of three and a half, who is so much smaller than her
younger brother. She once went for a fortnight’s change to the seaside.
The visitor asked her, when she came back, what she had most enjoyed. She
thought for a considerable time, and then made the following statement:
“I on’y ’ad two babies along of me, an’ wen I come in me dinner was
cooked for me.”
There is no doubt that if Mrs. B. were stronger she would not need to
nurse her baby quite so often. He is small and hungry, and will soon
need to be weaned if his mother is to work as hard as she does on
ordinary days; with extra exertion on washing-days, and extra noise and
interruption in holiday-time.
Mr. B., printer’s labourer; wage 30s.; allows 28s.; night worker. Eight
children; eldest, a girl of twelve years; youngest, three months.
6.45.—Nurses baby.
7.0.—Rises, calls children, lights fire and puts on kettle, washes and
dresses elder four children. Girl of twelve can do for herself. Boy of
ten can do all but his ears.
8.0.—Gets breakfast; bread and butter and tea for children.
8.15.—Gives children breakfast; gets them off to school by 8.45.
8.45.—Nurses baby.
9.0.—Fetches down the three babies, washes and dresses them; gives the
two bigger their breakfast.
9.30.—Husband comes home; cooks him rasher or haddock.
10.0.—Gives him his breakfast, and goes upstairs to tidy her room for
husband to sleep in; makes her bed for him, which has been airing since
seven o’clock. Turns out and airs beds in other room, taking two elder
babies with her.
10.30.—Clears away and washes up all the breakfast things.
11.0.—Nurses baby and puts all three to sleep.
11.15.—Goes out to buy dinner.
11.30.—Prepares dinner.
12.10.—Children all home again; goes on with dinner.
1.0.—Lays and serves dinner.
1.30.—Washes hands and faces of five children, and sends them off to
school.
1.45.—Nurses baby, and sits down till 2.30.
2.30.—Washes up and begins cleaning. Sweeps kitchen, scullery, and
passage, scrubs them, cleans grate; three babies to mind all the time.
4.10.—Children all home again; gets their tea, nurses baby.
4.30.—Clears away, and begins to cook husband’s dinner.
5.0.—Husband wakes; gives him dinner; sits down while she cuts his food
for him to take to work, keeping babies and children as quiet as she can.
6.0.—Nurses baby.
6.30.—He starts for work. She makes children’s beds, turns out his, airs
his room, and makes his bed up for herself and three children to sleep in
at night. All water used in bedrooms has to be carried upstairs, and when
used, carried down.
7.30—Washes and puts to bed two babies.
8.0.—Nurses baby.
8.15.—Washes and puts to bed elder children.
8.45.—Mends clothes.
10.0.—Nurses baby and puts him to bed.
10.30.—Goes to bed; nurses baby twice in the night.
There is no room for the “day” of the mother who bakes her own bread.
Her husband, who works for a Post-Office contractor, is on night-duty,
and spends most of the day at home. He is an old soldier, as are an
appreciable proportion of these low-wage men. He helps his wife in the
housework and the cooking, and their home is one of the most spotless
the visitor has seen. When his wife was sent to the seaside for two
weeks, he managed entirely for himself and the five children. His “day”
would have been very valuable could the visitor have persuaded him to
make it out for those two weeks. He apologised to her for not making the
money go as far as “mother” did, for buying loaves and not baking the
bread, for scrubbing without soap, which he had forgotten to buy; but a
detailed account of his day he could not give. He was a guardsman when
in the army, and stands six feet in his socks. He weighs eleven stone at
thirty-six—a stone less than when he was serving. Here are the accounts
for his two weeks, alongside a budget of his wife’s, with which to
compare (see p. 173). He sent them with the following letter:
“MRS. R.,—
“Unfortunately I had Rachel at home on the Friday as Mother
went away on the Thursday. I could not do on the money; I had
as you will see to borrow 5s. as well as putting the whole of
my money in the house. The last week I managed better, but had
to miss my club. I should have sent the list down to you each
week but Mother forgot to ask me to do so.”
The reference to Rachel is that she lost her situation just as his wife
left home. He had her food to get as well as the other children’s during
his fortnight. She is an excellent worker, and got another place as soon
as her mother came back.
_Mrs. H., June 18._
s. d.
Income:
Mr. H. 21 0
Rachel 4 0
Bread sold 0 9
------
25 9
Rent 6 6
Gas 2 0
Coal 0 8½
Soap, soda, etc. 0 7¼
Blacklead, hearthstone 0 1½
Matches 0 1½
Stockings 0 4¾
Cottons 0 3
Knickers (two boys) 1 4
Flour and yeast 5 5
Meat 2 6
Margarine 1 6
Sugar 0 7
Tea 0 6
Cocoa, coffee 0 6
Potatoes 1 0
Vegetables 0 7
Cow’s milk 0 7
Oatmeal 0 5
Salt 0 1½
------
25 9
_Mr. H., June 25._
s. d.
Income:
Mr. H., whole wage 25 0
Borrowed 5 0
-----
30 0
Rent 6 6
Gas 2 3
Coal 0 8½
Soap 0 5
Blacklead, etc. --
Matches 0 1½
Washing 1 6
Slate club 1 2
National insurance 0 4
Hospital 0 1
Tobacco 1 3¾
Ink, pen, nibs 0 2¾
Stationery 0 1
Stamps 0 4
Bread 5 0
Meat 3 0
Margarine 3 6
Sugar 0 8
Tea 0 6
Cocoa, coffee --
Potatoes 1 0
Vegetables 0 6
Cow’s milk 0 5½
Rice 0 2
Salt, pepper 0 2
------
30 0
_Mr. H., July 2._
s. d.
Income:
Mr. H. 25 0
Rent 6 6
Gas 1 6
Coal --
Soap, soda --
Blacklead, etc. --
Matches --
Washing 1 0
Boots (Tommy) 2 0
Club --
National insurance 0 4
Hospital 0 1
Tobacco 1 1½
Boot polish 0 1½
Stamps 0 3½
Tram fares 0 3
Bread 4 2
Meat 2 0
Margarine 3 0
Sugar 0 8
Tea 0 6
Cocoa, coffee --
Potatoes 1 0
Vegetables --
Cow’s milk 0 5½
Oatmeal, rice --
------
25 0
The items “ink, pen, nibs, stationery, and stamps” directly mother went
away are rather touching. The enormous consumption of margarine—3s. 6d.
as against 1s. 6d.—is an instance of the way in which the father is
kept in ignorance of the privations which are undergone by his family.
Directly he was left in charge, this father allowed margarine all round
on the same scale as he had always used it himself, with the result of
more than doubling the amount spent on it. The item in his first week
of 2s. 3d. for gas when there was no baking to be done, as against his
wife’s 2s. when there was, shows that the ½ cwt. of coal did not suffice
him, and that he cooked by gas. The savings he made in his second week
are most entertaining. No soap or cleaning material of any kind, no coal,
no matches; and yet the grate did not look bad nor the floor either when
the visitor saw them at the end of his strenuous time. The amount spent
on tobacco, his one luxury, is interesting, as it is the sole instance in
which this item is accounted for in the budgets. He was obliged to put
every penny of his wage into the general fund during those two weeks.
The penny for the hospital is a very common payment in Lambeth—one which
always comes out of the man’s private purse. Incidentally, we are able to
construct his own private budget of 4s. pocket-money out of this budget
of his. It must run something like this:
s. d.
National insurance 0 4
Slate club 1 2
Hospital 0 1
Tobacco 1 6
Fares, etc. 0 11
----
4 0
That the children of the poor suffer from insufficient attention
and care is not because the mother is lazy and indifferent to her
children’s well-being. It is because she has but one pair of hands and
but one overburdened brain. She can just get through her day if she
does everything she has to do inefficiently. Give her six children,
and between the bearing of them and the rearing of them she has little
extra vitality left for scientific cooking, even if she could afford the
necessary time and appliances. In fact, one woman is not equal to the
bearing and efficient, proper care of six children. She can make one bed
for four of them; but if she had to make four beds; if she even had to
separate the boys from the girls, and keep two rooms clean instead of
one; if she had to make proper clothing and keep those clothes properly
washed and ironed and mended; if she had to give each child a daily bath,
and had to attend thoroughly to teeth, noses, ears, and eyes; if she had
to cook really nourishing food, with adequate utensils and dishes, and
had to wash up these utensils and dishes after every meal—she would need
not only far more money, but far more help. The children of the poor
suffer from want of room, want of light, want of air, want of warmth,
want of sufficient and proper food, and want of clothes, because there
is not enough to pay for these necessaries. They also suffer from want
of cleanliness, want of attention to health, want of peace and quiet,
because the strength of their mothers is not enough to provide these
necessary conditions.