Is there any escape from the mundane??
Not likely, but perhaps there is hope in our perspective.
Did those women of previous generations have it any easier? Was life simpler? Did THEY escape the mundane?

Sheila Gregoire gives us a glance into 3 women's lives from era's gone by in chapter 2. One woman living in 1869, one from 1952 and a woman of our day, 2002. Why do we feel that somehow they coped better, managed it better, and somehow ended the day, "less tired."

Bob Dylan appropriately sung the words...

"Times they are a changin'"

The reality is that many things have changed.

We do not live in small, close knit communities as much as those sisters of the past. Our families are spread out, we cannot leave our children outside alone with the assurance that someone we "trust" would be watching out for them. With the reality of relocations and job transfers, we simply don't always stay in one place anymore.

With these changes, we've seen the role of women change as well. It's interesting to notice that while while women working "outside the home" is a relatively new phenomenon, the woman who was farming in a small town in 1869 was involved with every aspect of her home and often her husband's business. They really were a team. Today we've seen the emergence of husbands and wives moving often in different directions rather than collaborating in business together.

Then there are the kids....