Dearest Ann Eliza

Dearest Ann Eliza, I cannot tell you how excited I am to make your acquaintance.  I have often longed to explore and learn about the past and have many questions for you, but first I must address those which you asked of me. 

                You asked me to provide you with a vision of our means of communication.  You mentioned that you write a letter to your dear mother every two weeks and eagerly await the return post.  While typical post is still very exciting to receive, we have many other ways of communication.  In fact these other methods are becoming so popular that the post is very slowly disappearing.  One of my favorite means of communication is a fabulous invention called FaceBook.  Facebook is a place to connect with family and friends.  For you FaceBook would be a valuable treasure.  It would allow you to not only keep in constant contact with your dear mother, but also provide you a way to show off all of your lovely children.  On that note FaceBook also helps mothers connect with endless amounts of information useful in rearing children.  For example say you are looking to purchase a new type of cloth diaper and want to insure it will not cause you extra laundry and cleaning.  You simply have to ask your friends on Facebook which type they recommend, or if they like the type you are considering.  Trust me, you will get more answers than you ever bargained for.  Once you see what everyone else has to say, you can make your decision. 

                Once you purchase your new fancy cloth diapers that practically wash themselves you can head back to Facebook and contact the seller of these diapers with any questions or concerns you might have about the product.  If you discover these are the worst diapers you have ever purchased you can leave your comments for others to see and help them avoid the same fate. 

                If you are a sports fan, enjoy keeping current on political affairs, have a favorite author you use for inspiration, or another famous person you just need to know what they are doing next, you can head over to Twitter.  Another interesting and fun place to keep in touch with those around (or not really around) you.  On Twitter you can “follow” what others are doing or thinking.  If you and your children enjoy watching a game of baseball, perhaps you have a favorite team?  You can keep up on what that team is doing at all times.  I know you won’t be able to make it to all the games, travel with so many children is very difficult, but you will never miss out on the excitement of the game with Twitter.  It is also a great place to find people who share similar interests.  There is a tool called a hashtag with which you can connect with everyone who has used the same tag. 

                You mentioned in your note that you sometimes feel a bit lonely.  While I find that very hard to believe considering the number of people you live with, there is a wonderful outlet to loneliness here in our time.  There are these things called Blogs.  Anyone can create a blog and anyone can write whatever they feel on that blog.  Some people use these blogs as a place to express their artistic nature, others use this as a place to vent their angers, some use this as a place to sell products, and yet others use it as a place to provide valuable information to great amounts of people.  Blogs are one of the best resources available to people in this age.  There are literally blogs of every nature.  For example you may find a blog about the Holy Scriptures to be of use to you.  There are blogs that might provide tips and ideas to help you improve your relationships with your sister wives and husband.  There are blogs that have wonderful ideas about how to engage children’s minds and keep them busy so you can get some laundry done!  There are also blogs that are just for entertainment.  (Not that you get bored with 48 children to look after!)

                There are lots of ways in which we are able to interact and connect with other people in our time, however every now and again I envy the simplicity of simply writing a letter to someone.  With all of these news ways to stay in contact, we get carried away and often reveal far too much information.  Information that should most likely be kept private.  We also have become obsessed with sharing nearly every moment of our lives with everyone we know.  Now when you go to the park to play with the kids, you photograph everything they do, post the pictures to facebook, and update your status that you are going to the park and in doing so miss a few precious minutes of time just enjoying your wonderful family. 

                Well I think I have given you quite a bit to think about.  I am hoping that you will share some of your tips for keeping children happy and busy.  I am also wondering if you will share your secret to getting along with 11 other wives.  Oh yes, and what exactly are crinolines?

                With anticipation,

                Beth