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The Family That Works Together
| Article
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16307 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1989 |
1,537 Words |
| Author
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Nancy Pearcey
Nancy Pearcey writes on science and social issues from her
base in Washington, D.C., and is currently working on The
Scientific Prism, a book on world-views in the history of
science. |
Shopping day involved much visiting with neighbors when I was growing up in the village of Muhlhausen, just outside Heidelberg, Germany, for it was neighbors who owned and ran the shops.
Mother and I would trudge off with a large shopping bag to make the rounds. Our first stop was the baker. The baker's wife was plump and floury and always gave me a freshly baked goody. Husband and wife worked side by side to produce a heavy, brown German bread, with a delightfully crispy crust. The bakery was in the front part of their home.
Second stop was the butcher, where a child could anticipate a few slices of spicy sausage. The butcher's shop also adjoined his home, so the husband or wife could slip upstairs to make lunch or check a napping child.
Then we were off to the grocer for fruit and vegetables. The grocer and his family lived next door to the store. If it was afternoon, their older children would be sweeping floors, unloading stock, or learning to operate the cash register. School ended no later than one o'clock, even for the upper grades and high school, allowing children to participate in family businesses in the afternoon. Parents were then expected to rigorously supervise homework in the evenings.
This is a description of Germany in the mid-1960s, yet gives us a taste of the family-centered way of life we associate with our pre-industrial past; before men and women were obliged to be separated from their families most of their waking hours, before mothers at home were left to care for their children alone, without the helping hands of an
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