Mama Veldman's story of 4 little chicks

Mama Veldman, my wonderful mother in law, told me stories when we were alone. Henry was always out visiting his brothers and sisters.
One day she was going someplace special, couldn't remember what it was, but you will see why. She had all the children dressed. Pete was the oldest, all of 3 1/2 or 4, Wilhilmein was 2, and Dolly was 1. Riek was the baby. They were all supposed to sit on the bed and wait til she put on her dress and combed her hair. Seems simple enough. Riek being a baby decided to fill her pants. Remember, there were no pampers, plastic pants, or handy wipes. Since mama was in a hurry, the kids decided to help her out. They changed the diaper with pins and poop. Mama said they had poop on all four of them from head to foot. I asked her what she did. She said she just changed their clothes to ordinary clothes and sent them out to play. She only had one good set of clothes for each child.
Imagine cleaning this mess up. No automatic washer and dryer. No bathtub to throw them all in and give them a good soaping. Only one sink in the whole house and it had only cold water. Hot water was in the reserve tank of the stove.
I take my hat off to such a great lady who raised a wonderful brood of 12 chicks during a depression and war time. She did not complain or gripe. She just did the best she could with what was at hand. Food was simple and nourishing and everyone had their fill.
All of the children said how big the house was while they were growing up. Designers today would crack up. The stairss were steep and narrow, the hallway from front to back was narrow,
(that's where they played ping pong). Four boys slept in one room and four girls slept in the other room. The babies slept downstairs in Mama's room.
Toys were almost non existent. Imaginations were used to a very great extent. All grew up happy and loved. More stories to come.