Humanist

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?

We the children of the Boomers, GenX, are responsible for phasing out the tradition of living with extended family members.

For me, in the past,  it was never the case that my siblings would go live with other family members. But it was always the case that relatives from both sides of our parents’ families and clans would come live with us.

I remember cousins living with us in town being made in charge of doing the laundry – hand washing clothes, putting them out to dry in the clothes line and bringing them in in the evening for ironing.

Even at our ancestral home in the village where there wasn’t electricity, a charcoal iron was used on a daily basis to iron clothes. My late father, I think, never wore clothes that weren’t ironed.

Increasingly, I observe many of my family members and friends live in more nuclear family arrangements as opposed to with extended family.

And, I for one rarely iron the clothes I wear. I iron only if I must. I know many of my generation who also simply wash ad wear without ironing.