The Good Old Days?

As I was going about my usual daily business today, it came to mind to wonder about my foremothers. I was loading the dishwasher, emptying the dryer, and running the baby a nice warm bath, when it occurred to me that just a few decades ago, these appliances that I depend on every day would have been almost unheard of super-luxury items. How did our Great-Grandmothers do it all? I love my home and my family, but at the end of the day, I really need and enjoy the peace that comes when everyone else is asleep in their beds; and I only have a husband and one small daughter in my care. I'm convinced that I am pretty soft and weak. I love my hot soaks in the tub, and I love even more that they are provided with just a turn of the tap. I sometimes wonder how women of the past could not only give up the chance to care for home and family, but demand the right to leave and go off to work; but then I remember that homemaking was probably pretty brutal and mind-numbing for most women of the day (it's sometimes bad enough now with all of our modern conveniences and distractions).I wonder how I would measure up in a life like that of my dear Irish Great-Grandmother? Would she laugh to see the things that I find frustrating?