if you could....

Mine would definitely be the internet. It wasn't until my kids were grown that I found my long lost brother using the power of the internet. I was also looking for my father. Sadly, my father passed away before I could contact him. My brother has great regret that he wasn't in my life when my girls were young and he hates the fact that he missed them growing up.

Bathsheba Aw bless you.

travelsafar how dreadful for you to suffer as you did when you had your babies. No wonder you want to go back and do it again, but with the help and understanding that's available today! So yes, if I find a way of getting back there, you're definitely coming with me! ??

Disposable nappies

dorset, I had been thinking the same - and I am a year older than you. I didn't buy the washing machine until I was pregnant. I found it easier to use the launderette, but bought one on credit, paid over six months when my pregnancy was confirmed.

With 2 of us working, both with long commutes, a fridge was essential as I could only shop at the weekend and had to buy a week;s food in one go

I'm amazed at how many people didn't have washing machines. I'm 74 but my mother and I have always had washing machines and fridges ,

Noreen3, but at least back then the buses had conductors/conductresses who would help you to stow the pushchair under the stairs and get it out for you when you got off.
I don't know whether I am just younger than most of you on here (65) or we were just better off but by the time we started our family we had an automatic washing machine, freezer, microwave oven and home telephone. We used disposable nappies for both my daughters. My FiL was a keen amateur photographer and took loads of pictures that he gave us. Our 'social media' was the local Mother and Toddler/Playgroup and coffee at the homes of the other Mums I met there. So I can't think of any modern gadget I regret not having.

ditto EllanVannin
Looking through the messages it depends in what era we had our children. Few people could afford a washing machine in the 60s and disposables were not even sold in the UK, as for central heating, they were sort of air-blowers then to top it all the three-day week. Moreover there were no cheap imports and meat was expensive. Don't get me wrong we didn't moan and I am not now.

I agree a washing machine would have been a great asset although I used disposable nappies but sheets were always a problem.

I agree with a washing machine. I used disposable nappies but sheets were still a problem.

No, Annep, I left him over 20 years ago, for that and other reasons.

Skype. I love skyping my granddaughters and they only live a few hours drive from me . I seethem as often as I can. When my children were little we lived in New York . It was letter writing, a monthly phone call and a trip home every two years . So their Granny saw them in stages of growing up and had to get to know them each time. I've been able to look after my granddaughters if their parents are away, attend various school activities etc. My late mother in law would have appreciated being able to Skype.

A modern man would of been nice, I love how the young men these days , cook, clean, iron change nappies, do child care, shopping and go to work ! ( laughs )

Automatic washer and tumble drier without a doubt. Hand washing and eventually twin tub wasted too many years of my life! I have both now though rarely use the tumble drier except in emergencies (those electric bills!)

I have photos of my children (and earlier of myself and siblings) probably taken more carefully then, as the films had to be developed. I have thousands of my DGC from my digital camera but probably save a similar number for posterity as from the old film cameras.

No need for smartphone, internet, social media even now (though admit that google on my laptop is useful and well of course GN). When my Dad had a heart attack I received the letter next day and immediately rang their phone from the box down the road. I was there on the train the same day. I thought we were very modern a few years later when we had a landline. Contact with family was through this but still comparatively limited.

The obsession people have with smart phones these days really concerns me. It is like an addiction that they cannot overcome. I also wonder about the future epidemic of arthritis in fingers and hands due to clutching them and typing constantly. My DGC seem to lose the use of their brains when they are on screens of any kind and suffer withdrawal in the nastiest possible way when they are removed. Sorry ... side tracking.... end of rant!!!

travelsafar
How terribly sad. Sending big hug for you.

Central heating and a tumble drier. To get up to a warm bathroom each morning would have been heaven. Our first house was heated by bottle gas fires: smelly, expensive and streaming windows and walls. All our kids were born in the winter so clothes were drying on airers all over the house which just added to the condensation. We opened as many windows as possible whatever the weather and wore extra jumpers! But I was lucky enough to be given a 2nd hand washing machine when we got married which was a huge help.

A Nanny especially at night. ?

A washing machine, detergents and material that didn’t need ironing. Also food. Rationing was still in force when mine were babies.

Tumble dryer and microwave!

I agree with the digital camera.And I would have liked the low floor buses that you can wheel the pushchair on to. In my day,we had to fold the pushchair up,it was a struggle to carry the baby and everything else.

Bathsheba please can i go with you!!!! But only with the knowledge i have now about how i should have done things with the children.
I wouldn't mind not having labour saving items and technology but i know i would savour every single little minute of their lives and cherish them so much more.

Each time i had a child i suffered teribly with PN depression but i didnt realise it nor did anyone else, including the GP who i went to see, the healthvisitor and the nurse at the baby clinic where i went every week to get them weighed and have their checkups and vaccinations. My parents didnt spot it nor my husband he just said 'oh its the baby blues love it will pass', but it didn't. I could weep even now and still hate myself when i think how much it spoilt my life and obviously his and theirs. I just wanted someone to take me somewhere and say she needs help, i couldnt do it myself i was far too depressed. The young women today are so much more open about how they feel and MH issues are always being highlighted in the media, thank god.

OMG, dried pasta! My poor mum raised 7 of us on a shoestring and potatoes. Every day she peeled piles of them in cold water in a cold kitchen surrounded by damp washing. Dried pasta and a washing machine would have saved her hours of labour. For me, fitted sheets, duvets, central heating, double glazing, tumbledryers, microwaves, mobile phones, spreadable butter, food processors, equality for women, self belief, I can't stop!

Central heating

Internet with e-mail. I had postnatal depression with both of mine and was stuck out in the country with no transport or near neighbours. OH travelled all the time and was often away for a month or more. The feeling of isolation was horrendous. MumsNet, e-mail and the ability to find out I was not the only one would have been a godsend.

I'm tempted to say digital camera, but there was at least an alternative, albeit expensive, way of taking photos. But there was no alternative to the internet, so that would have to be my choice.
I have so often said if only I'd had access to the gorgeous crafts and sewing ideas that are available now, to be able to download a PDF sewing or knitting pattern instantly. Also, although I've been knitting and sewing for more years than I care to remember, I have learnt so much from FB groups, YouTube and so on, different techniques that I'd had no idea about before.
So yes, the Internet please! (But more importantly, can I please go back to those long gone days when my children were little? ??)