Tuesday, January 6.
Oh, dear! I am tired to-night. I have been ironing all day,—and I’m only seventeen.
I stood in the kitchen doorway and listened
The diary chronicles a struggling family who keep a boarding house after the father’s death, portraying everyday pressures, financial strain, and relations with a wealthy uncle. The narrator records domestic details and family personalities: a studious son who gives up personal plans to help, a mischievous younger daughter, a serious cousin with social advantages, and a disabled little brother, alongside a resolutely optimistic mother. Recollections include the late father’s unfinished flying-machine in the attic and how private ambitions, modest inventions, thrift, and incoming boarders shape the family’s hopes, tensions, and loyalties.
Oh, dear! I am tired to-night. I have been ironing all day,—and I’m only seventeen.