I WAS relaxing, thinking about how nice it was to have nothing to do and how rarely our own mums had a chance.

I thought about the 1940s when most of us did not have electricity.

Mums scraped their knuckles on washboards in harsh detergents and cleaned out and reset the fireplace every morning.

Shopping had to be done late on Saturday night else your Sunday joint might go off no freezers or affordable fridges then.

Mangles and heavy flat irons were part of the laundry routine.

Our mothers didn't stop working from sun up to bed time. Remind me next time I complain.

MRS SHEILA BRENNAN, Bombay Street, Blackburn.