Thinking about a simpler time …

When trips into town were weekly, not daily.

When a quarter was a big deal.

When soda was a treat for birthdays and holidays.

When brothers and sisters were your best friends and playmates.

When new clothes were homemade.

When bread was baked at home.

When the church’s school bulged at the seams with students.

When walking three miles home from school was no big deal.

When the county fair was the height of the summer.

I never lived in those simpler times. Those memories belong to other people who have been kind enough to share them with me.

I don’t necessarily want to return to those times. I enjoy my computer and air conditioning and cell phone. I luxuriate in the creature comforts that accompany modern American life.

And yet.

There’s an undeniable appeal about those past years. Reading between the lines, it’s clear that sitting down as a family for a meal was a regular occurrence, not an anomaly like it is today. And I like that.

I like the idea that your family came first, that you lived within your means, that you helped out your neighbor when they needed it.

I like that families worked together and played together, living close enough to each other to spend a Sunday afternoon visiting without involving major travel plans.

So I’m thinking, is it possible to create that sort of environment for my daughter and her future brothers and sisters to grow up in?

How do I make an old-fashioned yet modern home?

I have ideas, but I’d love to hear yours!