Day to Day Living

The following is the daily schedule while living in the Lutherans Children’s Home between the ages of three and three quarters until I was eight years old. I have added some small stories which I believe go with each section.

“What. Leave me alone. It’s dark outside and I’m tired.” I remember saying. “What do you mean I have to get up?” That is when it was explained to me that I had to get up, dressed and have my bed ready for inspection before breakfast. I hurried around trying not to stumble into everything and get ready for breakfast. I watched the older girls making their bed and tried to figure out a way that I could make my bed too. Problem is that I couldn’t seem to reach the covers the way everyone else could. Just as I was straightening out the bedspread that went on the bed, I noticed a lady standing at the bottom of my bed. She sure didn’t look happy about all the work I put into making the bed. All she did was pull the covers and sheets down and tell me to start over again. “No bumps or creases allowed.” she said. Gee, I didn’t see any bumps the first time I did it, I wondered how she did as I tried again to make the bed the way they wanted it to be.

Well, I finally got to go down and eat breakfast, not that I would be able to remember what I had eaten later, but I was sure glad to be able to get away from trying to make a bed that I thought I had made right in the first place. When breakfast was over, we had to clear the tables and take our plates and dishes to the kitchen to get cleaned. The older girls got to do arts and crafts and I tried to stay out of everyone’s way and not be noticed. I was tired of being in so much trouble and not even having been there that long.

During the school year the older girls would go to school and I would have the place basically to myself. I really liked that because then I didn’t seem to get in as much trouble. I learned about dusting and folding clothes and people didn’t seem to be as angry with only one kid to worry about instead of the 36 who lived there. I quickly learned that the wooden box that I had to sit on the day before contained a couple of toys and was actually given one in case I got a toy to put in it. Making things look clean and perfect was very important to the people who were in charge of the building I lived in.

In the afternoons, we would have a chance to play outside if all the chores were done and if we had been good. That is usually when I would ask if I could go see my sister, Diane, but usually the answer was no. I spent a lot of time wishing we could have been in the same building so we could at least see each other. Maybe Nannie would be able to come and take us home soon. It would be nice to live together and have David with us all the time too.

Dinner was at four p.m. My favorite food that they served there was what they called Hungarian Stew. One of the things I learned very quickly was to eat everything which was placed on my plate to eat. With Hungarian Stew that was easy because it tasted so good but most days it was a struggle to eat everything that was put on my plate. One of my most vivid memories of food at the orphanage is the green rice and peas dish. The ladies in charge and all the kids seemed to think this was a great dish but when I looked at the plate in front of me, it was all I could do not to throw up. Needless to say, I did not eat anything on the plate but I did drink all of the juice they gave me. I could do a lot but eat green rice and peas was not one of the things I could do. I sat there with that dish in front of me until bedtime when it was picked up and I was told to get ready for bed. Thank goodness, I thought. At least I won’t have to try and eat that again. For the next three days, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I found the same plate of green rice and peas in front of me to eat. I drank whatever it is they gave me to drink but I refused to eat. They finally gave up bringing me the plate when furry green stuff started to grow on it. I sure was glad when the next meal was hamburgers and French fries instead.

Bedtime was at 7:00 sharp. We were headed up the steps at 6:30 and had to take a bath and get into clean nightgowns by 7:00. Lights were out but it didn’t really matter in the summer since it wasn’t even dark yet. The braver girls would have whispering chats until the people in charge would come and threaten everyone with an earlier start in the morning and earlier bedtime the next day. Once upon wakening everyone was chattering about one of the girls sleeping in a ballerina pose. For several days afterwards a different girl would be spotted in the same pose. I guess everyone was trying to fit in and that was the only way they could express themselves and not get into trouble. After a while the people in charge decided enough was enough and no one was to wake up in that pose again. I guess they suspected that it was some type of enjoyment and they didn’t like it.

On weekends the schedule differed slightly. Saturdays instead of having to make our beds we got to strip them down instead and just throw the bedspread on the bed and make it look like it was made. We would spend the day dusting everything that you could see and some that you couldn’t. Another chore which we had to do was fold all the laundry. This was one chore I didn’t mind doing because I usually had a basket of clothes to fold and nobody bothered me while doing it. I guess that is why folding clothes is still a pleasure for me and not a chore. In the afternoons we would be allowed to play outside on the swingset if you were good. After supper we would have to go upstairs and make up our beds in preparation for bedtime. When done properly then you got to go downstairs and play quietly until bedtime. On Saturdays if you had been real good and in the pre-teenage years you could get to stay up and watch Lassie. I had to wait many years before I ever had a chance to watch Lassie and then I fell asleep before the first commercial. Such luck.

On Sundays the biggest difference was that we had to go to church. That was the one day of the week when you got to dress up and go out of the orphanage. Sitting in the big church with the hard wooden pews isn’t the most exciting thing for a four-year old to do but I sure did like looking at all the serious people and hear all the singing. It took a long time before I figured out that the standing and sitting had to be done at certain times and not when your legs got tired. After we got home we would all line up and would be asked about the sermon and what we learned. Gee, I didn’t know we were supposed to learn something. My response to the question was “I learned that church has such beautiful music.” Not good enough and the wooden toy boxes saw me sitting on them for the rest of the afternoon.

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