IF YOU WERE A PILGRIM CHILD: In 1621, just surviving was the most important thing. Food clothing and shelter were what life was all about.
Schooling - You would not go to school, if your parents could read they might use the Bible to teach you how to read.
Bathing - In warm weather you might take a bath outside in a brook. In cold weather you might bathe inside in a tub. You would only bathe a few times a year. You wouldn't smell very good, but then neither would anyone else!
Behaving - You would be taught to obey your parents and never question anything they told you to do. Children were never to misbehave. If you did misbehave, your parents might put you into stocks. Your wrists and ankles would be locked into holes in a wooden board and everyone would see you. How embarrassing!
Sleeping - Your bed might be a straw mattress on the dirt floor. All your brothers and sisters might share the same bed with you. Nobody had much privacy.
Working - You would start working at a very young age. You would work from sunup to sundown along side your parents. Boys might protect the fields, where seeds were just planted, by throwing rocks at birds all day to keep them away. Girls might sew and do all the chores as their mothers did.
Eating - You would eat your big meal in the middle of the day. You would probably have a knife and maybe a spoon, but no fork. It was OK to eat with your fingers. If you were a Pilgrim child you would probably eat standing up. Your parents would sit in the only chairs.
Clothes - While very young, both boys and girls would wear dresses. At about 6, you would start dressing like your mom or dad.
Playing - You would be very busy doing chores, but you would still find time to play some. Several of the games we play today were enjoyed by the Pilgrim children, like hide- and-seek, marbles, blind man's bluff and jump rope.
Worshiping - You would go to church all day on Sun. You would sit very quietly on a hard bench and listen. You might find this a relief from your daily hard work.
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