# Your childhood home...



## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Anyone else have the bragging rights of being raised in a one bathroom home?

Remember the challenges that one bathroom made for?

How about those old laundry chutes, did your home have one?

Did your home have a finished basement, where as a young and growing child you could escape to in order to read a book, watch TV, play a board game, or invite friends over?

Anyone else have to endure sharing your bedroom with a sibling?


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## JaniceM (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Anyone else have the bragging rights of being raised in a one bathroom home?
> 
> Remember the challenges that one bathroom made for?
> 
> ...


All 3 of the houses I lived in when I was growing up had only one bathroom.  When everybody was still living at home, it was only a matter of basic courtesy-  like if anyone was going to take a bath, they'd ask if anybody else needed to get in there first.  We also had one phone and one t.v.  

No laundry chutes.  The basement was for laundry, but when I was a young teenager I turned it into a darkroom to develop films and print pictures.   

My brothers shared a bedroom, but I had my own because I was the only girl.


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## Pinky (May 3, 2020)

I could turn this into a "We were poorer than .." thread 

3 room house .. un-insulated. No running water - well water.

no bathroom - outhouse.

Myself & 2 older sisters slept on the pull-out chesterfield in the living-room. We didn't have a bedroom.

We lived that way for around 5 yrs.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

JaniceM said:


> All 3 of the houses I lived in when I was growing up had only one bathroom.  When everybody was still living at home, it was only a matter of basic courtesy-  like if anyone was going to take a bath, they'd ask if anybody else needed to get in there first.  We also had one phone and one t.v.
> 
> No laundry chutes.  The basement was for laundry, but when I was a young teenager I turned it into a darkroom to develop films and print pictures.
> 
> My brothers shared a bedroom, but I had my own because I was the only girl.


I remember it so well... calling out to the family to advise of my impending bath (LOL), or when my dad would ask if anyone needed the bathroom, because he was going in to a little reading (clearing my throat).


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## JaniceM (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> I remember it so well... calling out to the family to advise of my impending bath (LOL), or when my dad would ask if anyone needed the bathroom, because he was going in to a little reading (clearing my throat).


or the other thing I remember-  "please don't turn on the water in the kitchen, I'm going to take a shower!"  because the water system throughout the house was all connected, and if someone turned on the kitchen sink faucet, the individual in the shower would be treated to some VERY cold water!


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Pinky said:


> I could turn this into a "We were poorer than .." thread
> 
> 3 room house .. un-insulated. No running water - well water.
> 
> ...


Boy, do I remember the days of the old outhouse. The outhouse was the way when visiting my grandparents, and was I ever happy to an end to that. 

I remember our old couch that folded-out into a bed, how many weekend sleepovers we had through the years sleeping on it/in it. 

What great old memories!


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

JaniceM said:


> or the other thing I remember-  "please don't turn on the water in the kitchen, I'm going to take a shower!"  because the water system throughout the house was all connected, and if someone turned on the kitchen sink faucet, the individual in the shower would be treated to some VERY cold water!


Yes! And to kick it up another notch... flushing the toilet when someone was having a shower! What fun we had with that!

Mom and dad kept one of those small miniature screwdrivers made for tightening the screws of eyeglasses atop the bathroom doorjamb, so locking the bathroom door did no good! A master key it was! ROFL!


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## toffee (May 3, 2020)

I remember we had a old ascot water heater over the sink in my parents home in London..
plus one in the bathroom to heat the water up!


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## Llynn (May 3, 2020)

How about no bathroom. Mom and I used the logging camp facilities.

It was well after I got out of the Navy before I lived in a house with more than a single bathroom.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

toffee said:


> I remember we had a old ascot water heater over the sink in my parents home in London..
> plus one in the bathroom to heat the water up!


ROFLMAO! We must had a really small hot water heater, because we always had to wait for the hot water heater to heat enough water for a bath, after mom did the dishes (or vice-versa)! Same went for using the washing machine, if we wanted to do a hot water wash cycle, having a bath was out of the question! LOL!

What fun we had...


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## JaniceM (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Yes! And to kick it up another notch... flushing the toilet when someone was having a shower! What fun we had with that!
> 
> Mom and dad kept one of those small miniature screwdrivers made for tightening the screws of eyeglasses atop the bathroom doorjamb, so locking the bathroom door did no good! A master key it was! ROFL!



I forgot the part about not flushing the toilet!  LOL !


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Llynn said:


> How about no bathroom. Mom and I used the logging camp facilities.
> 
> It was well after I got out of the Navy before I lived in a house with more than a single bathroom.


All I can say is, thank goodness for the logging camp facilities!


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## Pecos (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Anyone else have the bragging rights of being raised in a one bathroom home?
> 
> "We had an outhouse and took our baths in a zinc washtub in the kitchen with water heated on a wood stove."
> 
> ...


Aunt Marg
You were living high on the hog! See above.
But LOL, I still turned out OK, … or at least I think so.


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## Aunt Bea (May 3, 2020)

Most of my childhood was spent in a modest one bathroom six-room bungalow with an unfinished basement.

Living with one bathroom helped people to learn a little respect for others by cleaning up after themselves, not using all of the hot water, living with a schedule so everyone could get ready to head out the door, etc...


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## win231 (May 3, 2020)

As soon as I read about the Laundry Chute, I was LOL'ing!!

Our house had a pantry with a laundry chute on the second level that dropped the clothes down to the first level where the laundry room was.
So....what's so funny?   Our mom stored lots of snack foods in the pantry and she kept it locked at all times because we would constantly eat them - cookies, chips, anything we weren't supposed to eat.  She figured we couldn't get into the pantry because she kept the door locked.

When our parents weren't home, we quickly learned how to get to the cookies by climbing up the laundry chute to the pantry.   Sometimes, when we were having company, we would hear her unlock the door to the pantry to get snacks to offer her guests & she'd say, "Hmmm, I thought I had more cookies....I have to go shopping."  We couldn't stop laughing.  She never figured it out.

Another thing she never figured out:  She often bragged, _"You can't fool me, so don't even try._"  We LOL'd every time she said that & she'd always ask, "What the hell are you all laughing at?"


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Pecos said:


> Aunt Marg
> You were living high on the hog! See above.
> But LOL, I still turned out OK, … or at least I think so.


LOL, Pecos! You'll get no argument from me on that! 

How well I remember the old zinc-coated washtubs! Such was my personal swimming pool when visiting the grandparents! 

I, too, shared my bedroom with baby siblings, and for many years remember being woken in the middle of the night and tending to their crying/fussing... a diaper, a bottle, whatever they were in need of.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Bea said:


> Most of my childhood was spent in a modest one bathroom six-room bungalow with an unfinished basement.
> 
> Living with one bathroom helped people to learn a little respect for others by cleaning up after themselves, not using all of the hot water, living with a schedule so everyone could get ready to head out the door, etc...


Yes, absolutely true!

I remember I used to wake a good hour earlier than the rest, so I could have the bathroom all to myself.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

win231 said:


> As soon as I read about the Laundry Chute, I was LOL'ing!!
> 
> Our house had a pantry with a laundry chute on the second level that dropped the clothes down to the first level where the laundry room was.
> So....what's so funny?   Our mom stored lots of snack foods in the pantry and she kept it locked at all times because we would constantly eat them - cookies, chips, anything we weren't supposed to eat.  She figured we couldn't get into the pantry because she kept the door locked.
> ...


OMG, what a hoot that is!


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## Yo-Yo (May 3, 2020)

We had 2 bathrooms in my childhood home, but one of them was solely for my mother and father and was off limits to me and my brother. So technically I did have to share the bathroom with my younger brother who was two years younger than me. Maybe that was the real reason I wanted to get out at the age of 16.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Yo-Yo said:


> We had 2 bathrooms in my childhood home, but one of them was solely for my mother and father and was off limits to me and my brother. So technically I did have to share the bathroom with my younger brother who was two years younger than me. Maybe that was the real reason I wanted to get out at the age of 16.


LOL! Yes indeed, that would do it. 

I remember my moms Tame Crème Rinse (hair conditioner) was out of bounds for us girls, but it didn't stop us from sneaking a little every now and then! LOL!


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## Yo-Yo (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> LOL! Yes indeed, that would do it.
> 
> I remember my moms Tame Crème Rinse (hair conditioner) was out of bounds for us girls, but it didn't stop us from sneaking a little every now and then! LOL!


My mother was one of the people who could just sense when I did something wrong like use her make up or something like that. If I got called by her by my full name a then a rant in Japanese I knew I was in trouble. She just knew when I did something wrong and it could be days later and she would come down on me for it out of the blue just when I thought I got away with it.


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## C'est Moi (May 3, 2020)

Yes, I was raised in a modest 1-bedroom house.  No basement.  I don't remember it being a problem at the time though I'm sure there were a few mini-dramas when my brother and I were teenagers.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Yo-Yo said:


> My mother was one of the people who could just sense when I did something wrong like use her make up or something like that. If I got called by her by my full name a then a rant in Japanese I knew I was in trouble. She just knew when I did something wrong and it could be days later and she would come down on me for it out of the blue just when I thought I got away with it.


ROFLMAO! My mom, too! 

Let me tell you, there's weren't many occasions where I, or my siblings managed to get away with pulling the wool over moms head, but when we did, what a party it was!


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

C'est Moi said:


> Yes, I was raised in a modest 1-bedroom house.  No basement.  I don't remember it being a problem at the time though I'm sure there were a few mini-dramas when my brother and I were teenagers.


Oh yes... I recall the bickering and fighting, too! LOL!


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## Yo-Yo (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> ROFLMAO! My mom, too!
> 
> Let me tell you, there's weren't many occasions where I, or my siblings managed to get away with pulling the wool over moms head, but when we did, what a party it was!


My dad was the softy. My mom not so much.


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## jerry old (May 3, 2020)

Hmmm, this could rapidly turn into a thread: I was poorer than
you.  Pecos and I are in the running.
The days before indoor plumbing are faint memories, until, until
my parent's bought a cabin in the far, far rural.        
Do I want those memories?
Not sure


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Yo-Yo said:


> My dad was the softy. My mom not so much.


Same in our home, baby and childcare, cooking, baking, housework, the entire home (for that matter), anything and everything that revolved around the homemaking aspect of our tiny little abode, mom was in charge of, and all outside stuff such as yard-work, gardening, etc, was dads baby.


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## Yo-Yo (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Same in our home, baby and childcare, cooking, baking, housework, the entire home (for that matter), anything and everything that revolved around the homemaking aspect of our tiny little abode, mom was in charge of, and all outside stuff such as yard-work, gardening, etc, was dads baby.


It was much the same in our home. In the Japanese culture or shall I say the Asian culture back then the girl(me) followed whatever my mother did and she taught me. My sole goal was to learn everything from her to be a good wife to whoever I was to marry. That was one of the major reason I wanted to move on at such an early age along with the dream I had to succeed as a baker. My brother had the same thing with fixing household things, mowing the grass, learning how to do the financial things. That is the way it was.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Yo-Yo said:


> It was much the same in our home. In the Japanese culture or shall I say the Asian culture back then the girl(me) followed whatever my mother did and she taught me. My sole goal was to learn everything from her to be a good wife to whoever I was to marry. That was one of the major reason I wanted to move on at such an early age along with the dream I had to succeed as a baker. My brother had the same thing with fixing household things, mowing the grass, learning how to do the financial things. That is the way it was.


Yes, so true, in fact I refer to it as the traditional way, so common it was back in the day.


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## IrisSenior (May 3, 2020)

We had a 2 bedroom house and 7 kids. Mom and Dad got one bedroom with my youngest (infant) brother in a crib. Myself and 3 other sister had the other bedroom. Two oldest brothers got the basement. When youngest brother was older, he went to the basement too. When my older sister left and got married, I got her bed. 

We did indeed have a laundry chute to the basement and I was responsible for the laundry. We had one bathroom. 

There was no escape in the house, we had to play outside.


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## Yo-Yo (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Yes, so true, in fact I refer to it as the traditional way, so common it was back in the day.


When I tell people I have never married and have never had children they most always look shocked. I tell them I was so wrapped up trying to keep my business going. I had relationships with men along the way. Some of which were long term, but never walked down that aisle. I don't even regret it really.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

IrisSenior said:


> We had a 2 bedroom house and 7 kids. Mom and Dad got one bedroom with my youngest (infant) brother in a crib. Myself and 3 other sister had the other bedroom. Two oldest brothers got the basement. When youngest brother was older, he went to the basement too. When my older sister left and got married, I got her bed.
> 
> We did indeed have a laundry chute to the basement and I was responsible for the laundry. We had one bathroom.
> 
> There was no escape in the house, we had to play outside.


We, too, were shoed out the door to go and play, but how nice it was to have a domain of our own to escape to when a little _me time_ was in order.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Yo-Yo said:


> When I tell people I have never married and have never had children they most always look shocked. I tell them I was so wrapped up trying to keep my business going. I had relationships with men along the way. Some of which were long term, but never walked down that aisle. I don't even regret it really.


And nor should you regret it, Yo-Yo.

As far as I'm concerned, society and it's very ways, equates to being far too wrapped up in worrying about what everyone else is doing, and in turn, it seems society and it's beliefs and ideals (as a whole) has failed to progress past the old belief and ways of the past related to, once a person is out of the house, marriage and kids should follow. What a boring world it would be if all followed that same course.

The part that actually irritates me about all of this is, there seems to be an underlying mentality that still exists, where just because everyone else is getting married and having children, EVERYONE should be doing the same.

I envy you!


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## Yo-Yo (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> And nor should you regret it, Yo-Yo.
> 
> As far as I'm concerned, society and it's very ways, equates to being far too wrapped up in worrying about what everyone else is doing, and in turn, it seems society and it's beliefs and ideals (as a whole) has failed to progress past the old belief and ways of the past related to, once a person is out of the house, marriage and kids should follow. What a boring world it would be if all followed that same course.
> 
> ...


Why thank you. I think it was way worse back in the day than even today. I think women are standing up for themselves much more and that is making me smile and proud of these young women. I still think there is more to be done with that but that is another issue. Women and Men need to just figure out what pace that works for them. Everyone is different.


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## Pinky (May 3, 2020)

I recall being constantly asked, in my mid-30's .. "when are you going to have children?". I got so sick and tired of hearing it that I admit I lost my cool.

My daughter and my nephews, all married, don't have children. That's their personal choice and should be respected.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Yo-Yo said:


> Why thank you. I think it was way worse back in the day than even today. I think women are standing up for themselves much more and that is making me smile and proud of these young women. I still think there is more to be done with that but that is another issue. Women and Men need to just figure out what pace that works for them. Everyone is different.


I agree, and what a welcome change it is.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Pinky said:


> I recall being constantly asked, in my mid-30's .. "when are you going to have children?". I got so sick and tired of hearing it that I admit I lost my cool.
> 
> My daughter and my nephews, all married, don't have children. That's their personal choice and should be respected.


I agree wholeheartedly, it's a changing world and it's nice to see a percentage of society is actively moving away from the old.


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## hollydolly (May 3, 2020)

toffee said:


> I remember we had a old ascot water heater over the sink in my parents home in London..
> plus one in the bathroom to heat the water up!


My grandad had that over his sink when I was a child in the 60's ..I remember it very well...


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> My grandad had that over his sink when I was a child in the 60's ..I remember it very well...


Holly. Those Ascot heaters, were they/are they more associated with (unique to) the UK?

I've never seen one before, not had I heard about them before prior to starting this thread.


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## hollydolly (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Holly. Those Ascot heaters, were they/are they more associated with the UK?
> 
> I've never seen one before, not had I heard about them before prior to starting this thread.


I dunno mi chica... I just remember my grandfather having one over his little sink...he lived in a ground floor tenement flat...  (slum basically)

... we didn't have one  we had an  immersion heater... and a gas copper boiler in our house.


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## Sassycakes (May 3, 2020)

*I was raised in a 3 bedroom house with one bathroom. My sister and I shared a room until I was 5yrs old and my brother got married and then drafted. 2 yrs later her moved in my parents house and my sister and I had to share a bedroom together again. Thank goodness we had a nice basement and if friends came over we could play in the basement. After I got married my husband built a bathroom for my Mom and Dad on the first floor so they wouldn't have to climb stairs just to use the bathroom. *


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> I dunno mi chica... I just remember my grandfather having one over his little sink...he lived in a ground floor tenement flat...  (slum basically)
> 
> ... we didn't have one  we had an  immersion heater... and a gas copper boiler in our house.


Holly, I'm gathering the big copper boilers you're talking about would in fact be big, like an giant oversized hot water tank stood on it's side?


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

Sassycakes said:


> *I was raised in a 3 bedroom house with one bathroom. My sister and I shared a room until I was 5yrs old and my brother got married and then drafted. 2 yrs later her moved in my parents house and my sister and I had to share a bedroom together again. Thank goodness we had a nice basement and if friends came over we could play in the basement. After I got married my husband built a bathroom for my Mom and Dad on the first floor so they wouldn't have to climb stairs just to use the bathroom. *


Yes, having an area of the house to call home was a dream as a young child. I totally remember that.


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## hollydolly (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Holly, I'm gathering the big copper boilers you're talking about would in fact be big, like an giant oversized hot water tank stood on it's side?


Exactly that...my mother would light a gas under it, and boil the sheets in it


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## Liberty (May 3, 2020)

We lived in a mansion that had been cut up into 4 apts.  One bathroom, but kind of elegant  I guess.  Huge yard.  But, we'd go to Virginia to see my mother's "people" and they had an outhouse and my mother's mother (her mom and dad were divorced when she was 4 - dad was super educated, her mom was "mountain folks", but everyone knew they made the best moonshine around.

They had an outhouse and a smokehouse.  Grandpa would say "its mighty cold sluggin' down to that outhouse but mighty warm coming back (that's where he kept the jug).


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## jujube (May 3, 2020)

Seven females in the house...….one bathroom.  I think my dad peed out in the bushes occasionally.

Showers had to be short; my dad would yell, "DO YOU THINK WATER COMES OUT OF A HOLE IN THE GROUND????"  When I went away to college, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  All those showers and seldom were they all being used.  More than once, I was in the shower for an hour.  

We had a basement but it wasn't one you wanted to be in.  Cold and wet and full of creepy-crawlies.


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## peppermint (May 3, 2020)

My older brother was 6 years old....When I came along, My Mom and Dad first kept me in their bedroom....When I was about a year old
Mom changed my brother's room for me....My brother had the 3rd bedroom....Because the room that was closer to my Mom to here
if I cried...It also was connected by a door to my parents bedroom....Then came the rascal....LOL!  My younger brother was born when I was
6 years old....Then Mom put the 2 boy's in the bedroom I had and she put me in the other room, which I loved....
We had a great recreation room....My Dad made a bar and chairs....Also a refrigerator...The room was good for dancing...My parents
always had parties...Also for the kids....I loved my growing up in that house...Then we moved when I finished High School...Moved to
another home...I still always will love my old home...A college knocked down our homes and the college took over the street...
Of course my parents made out very well, by the college buying up the homes..(did love that home)  It was sad....


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## win231 (May 3, 2020)

jujube said:


> Seven females in the house...….one bathroom.  I think my dad peed out in the bushes occasionally.
> 
> Showers had to be short; my dad would yell, "DO YOU THINK WATER COMES OUT OF A HOLE IN THE GROUND????"  When I went away to college, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  All those showers and seldom were they all being used.  More than once, I was in the shower for an hour.
> 
> We had a basement but it wasn't one you wanted to be in.  Cold and wet and full of creepy-crawlies.


"Peeing in the bushes?"  That can be embarrassing.
My dad peed in the bushes occasionally.  Once, someone saw him & called police.
He was arrested & charged with indecent exposure.
He was released later due to insufficient evidence.


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## RadishRose (May 3, 2020)

3 places, one bathroom each, but I was an only child so no problem.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> 3 places, one bathroom each, but I was an only child so no problem.


There's always one in the crowd that's got to rub it in, hey Radish!


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## MarciKS (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> Anyone else have the bragging rights of being raised in a one bathroom home?
> 
> Remember the challenges that one bathroom made for?
> 
> ...


*We had one bathroom for the 4 of us. Dad always took two hrs in the evening doing his business and reading a book.

I didn't share a bedroom with a sibling. I shared mine with the washer and dryer. And mom couldn't understand why I couldn't sleep. *Arches Brow*

No basement. Had to share tv with brother and he usually got his way. As soon as dad walked in from work...no more tv.*


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## RadishRose (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> There's always one in the crowd that's got to rub it in, hey Radish!



Yeah, right.


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> *We had one bathroom for the 4 of us. Dad always took two hrs in the evening doing his business and reading a book.
> 
> I didn't share a bedroom with a sibling. I shared mine with the washer and dryer. And mom couldn't understand why I couldn't sleep. *Arches Brow*
> 
> No basement. Had to share tv with brother and he usually got his way. As soon as dad walked in from work...no more tv.*


ROFLMAO!

To this day, Marci, I have absolutely NO idea what used to take my dad so long in the bathroom. It was as if it was his home away from home... his own personal sanctuary. LOL!


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## MarciKS (May 3, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> ROFLMAO!
> 
> To this day, Marci, I have absolutely NO idea what used to take my dad so long in the bathroom. It was as if it was his home away from home... his own personal sanctuary. LOL!


*Mine would smoke, read and pay his respects to the Tidy Bowl man. The bathroom was such a delight after that. *Rolls Eyes & Holds Nose**


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> *Mine would smoke, read and pay his respects to the Tidy Bowl man. The bathroom was such a delight after that. *Rolls Eyes & Holds Nose**


ROFLMAO! Are you SURE your dad wasn't my dad?


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## MarciKS (May 3, 2020)

*The thing that upset me the most was that he ate in his underwear and sometimes stuff didn't stay put so, I never wanted to eat because the view would gross me out. My mom would be like...it's just Cheerios. You've eaten them for years and now you don't like them. I couldn't tell her!*


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## Aunt Marg (May 3, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> *The thing that upset me the most was that he ate in his underwear and sometimes stuff didn't stay put so, I never wanted to eat because the view would gross me out. My mom would be like...it's just Cheerios. You've eaten them for years and now you don't like them. I couldn't tell her!*


I'd be the same! OMG!


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## MarciKS (May 3, 2020)

I don't think he even realized and when you're 10 and your dad hasn't had his morning coffee yet, well, not the best time to bring it up. LOL


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