Sunday, January 9, 2011

Parenting Tip #63 Small House

After one of my sons and his family came to visit for Christmas, my little granddaughter told her mom she wanted to live in a small house just like grandma and grandpa. When asked why, she said, “because it’s so comfortable and I like the way it feels.”

That reminded me of what one of my daughters told me when she was a teenager. Her friend had a really big house—really big. But her friend told her she wished she lived in a small house like we did. She said, “your family is so close to each other and you know where everyone is.”

There was a time in my life when I felt very bad about living in a “small house”. I was covetous and jealous of others and embarrassed how we had to squish 7 kids and 2 parents in a small 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house.

But now I’m glad. Our family had to learn to get along with each other, share, cooperate and take turns (did I mention we only had 1 telephone and 1 TV, too). With only 1 bathroom you learned to be fast and be considerate. With 4 boys in one small room you learned to be creative with living space and learned how to share. You learned to make do, not be selfish and work problems out.

Yep, I’m glad I live in a small house—it’s much easier to clean, too.

2 comments:

  1. I always thought you had a great house. Our house growing up wasn't much bigger (3 bed 2 bath) but much fewer kids. I remember thinking your daughters' room was cool because they had a bed and bunkbeds.
    Now, it gives me hope because who knows when we will move from our townhouse, but I know we can make it work and hopefully, our kids will love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you live in a small home you get the opportunity to be creative! Which you are good at.

    Also you have to declutter alot! Which I'm NOT good at.

    ReplyDelete

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