We have a cold going around our house right now.  I thought I was going to avoid getting it but no such luck.  I took some medicine which temporarily relieved my symptoms but now I feel jittery.  I was about to give up on writing until I realized I could ask another good What Would Grandma Do? question.

In my initial list of challenges, I included that I would like to use less toilet paper.  With cold season upon us, I may have found one way to reduce my use.

Whenever my kids have a cold, they grab a roll of toilet paper and carry it with them to use for blowing their noses.  At the end of the day, the various trash cans in our house are filled to the brim with bunches of used toilet paper.  The little poofs of white paper collect like clouds, and I find myself smiling because they remind me of my kids.  It is one of those endearing moments I never would have understood prior to becoming a parent. 

However, when toilet paper is unavailable, my middle son is prone to using the front of his shirt to wipe his nose.  Although the toilet paper clouds are much cuter, the t-shirt method is probably a step closer to how my grandparents would have handled a cold.  My grandparents did not use disposable tissue paper or toilet paper to blow their noses.  They used hankies or handkerchiefs.  I did an internet search in an attempt to find a picture of a handkerchief to use for this post.  Most of the pictures I came across showed a handkerchief being used as a fashion accessory and not for blowing one’s nose like originally intended. 

My dad and his father, my Grandpa Pickies, both still use hankies to blow their noses.  Even though I usually use toilet paper or Kleenex to blow my nose, I have never really thought it was gross that my dad and grandpa use a hankie.  I actually get a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I see a blue handkerchief like the one my dad uses because it makes me think of him.  Strangely enough, I seem to have lots of fond feelings associated with the act of blowing one’s nose! 

I cannot be the only one who associates good memories with one of the most basic of human functions.  I am willing to bet some of you have your own stories to share!  And so it is your turn to tell me your best hankie stories.

What did your grandparents use to blow their noses?  What do you use?  Would you be willing to switch to using a handkerchief in order to use less tissue or toilet paper? 

Shortly before I launched my blog, I came across a wonderful memoir called, Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.  It was rated “one of the 10 best books of the year” by the New York Times Book Review in 2007.  

I love reading biographies and memoirs but I probably would not have read Little Heathens were it not for my blog.  This would have been my loss because Kalish is a terrific story teller.  And though it was not her intention, her book could be my official manual for learning how to live like my grandparents.  I often refer to it as inspiration for my Grandma Challenges.  However, there is one particular passage I find myself pondering on a regular basis.

In the chapter titled, Building Character: Oral Influences, Kalish describes various sayings which shaped the life of her family and childhood.  One saying she mentions is “She can throw out more in a teaspoon than he can bring in with a shovel.”  Kalish writes, “This insightful observation describes a wasteful wife - one, say, who didn’t wipe the inside of an eggshell with her forefinger to extract every last bit of the egg white, or one who made dusting clothes out of old cotton dresses and shirts instead of first salvaging the good parts to make dust capes, tea towels, or napkins.”

Although the saying may reflect a certain view of gender, I think it also illustrates a simple, yet profound, example of the difference between my modern mindset and that of my grandparents.  I use eggs all the time for cooking and baking and it has never once dawned on me to try to wipe out “every last bit of the egg white.”  When I crack an egg, I usually try to avoid touching the white or I try to maneuver it as quickly as possible so it does not drip all over the counter.  I am not sure if this is because I do not want to get messy or if somewhere along the line I was told that I could get sick if I touched the contents of a raw egg.

Either way, it makes me think about my impatience and inattention to certain details and how these patterns often lead to unnecessary waste.  I do not maximize most of the items in my home because it is inconvenient and slows me down.  I am of the mindset that it is easier to toss a mostly used item in the trash and buy a new one.  Apparently, I could learn a lot from the saying, “She can throw out more in a teaspoon than he can bring in with a shovel.”

A friend of mine told me she recently asked her 83-year old Grandma if she used to wipe out the inside of her eggs to which her grandma exclaimed, “I still do! Don’t you?”  I want to know how you would answer my friend’s grandma, and so it is time for another What Would Grandma Do? question.

Did your grandma (or grandpa) swipe the inside of eggs to “extract every last bit of the egg white?”  Do you?  My great grandma once showed me how she used egg whites for glue on her craft projects.  Did your grandparents have any interesting uses for eggs or egg whites?  Do you have any items that you regularly try to get maximum use out of?

Sometimes I will post a short entry like this one because I would like to have a question answered.  I am in the process of asking my grandparents these very same questions, but I like to compare and contrast their answers with the stories you share.  So it is time for another What Would Grandma Do? question.

My grandparents saved everything out of necessity.  I do not have to.  At this point, I have the privilege of choosing to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

On Monday, I took on the Grandma Challenge of using all-natural bar soap because it helps me reduce my use of packaging along with a few chemicals I think I am better off without.

Today, I tried to wash a piece of tin foil so I could reuse it.  I do not think it is going to make it past a second use.  Either modern tin foil is too flimsy to reuse or I need to buy some heavy duty foil.  Perhaps I simply need to live without it.

What did your grandparents save for reuse?  What do you save for reuse today?