My
wife and I have been watching a lot of those shows on HGTV where people are
either buying a house or fixing up a house. Sometimes the people are selling
their current home and buying a new home. I especially like the episodes where
they’re fixing up an older house, where they gut it down to the studs and the
subflooring, and then redo it all up to so-called modern standards. That’s a
talent that I definitely do not have.
However,
there is one thing that really annoys me as I watch these shows. Most times,
there is a couple with one or two kids, and every once in a while, there are
three kids. I guess that is the typical family today and I fit into that
category with my own. I don’t have a problem with that. It’s the way the people
have to have a monster home, and every kid has to have their own bedroom and
bathroom. Okay, so I exaggerate slightly about each kid having their own
bathroom, but only a little. Many people say they absolutely need 3000+ square
feet, at least three bathrooms, a fully finished basement, and the obligatory
“open concept” main floor.
Really?
There are only four people in most of these families and they must have these
ridiculous sized houses. At one time, when all nine kids were still living at
home, we had about 1000 square feet, three bedrooms, one bathroom (that is NOT
a misprint) and no basement, finished or unfinished. Was it a bit crowded? Yes,
it was. Did we need more room? Yes, we did, but that didn’t come for a few
years, and until the three older ones were out of the house. How did we do it?
We just did, just like a lot of other families did back then.
We
shared bedrooms. Mom and Dad had theirs; another bedroom had two sets of bunk
beds and another bed in the middle for the five oldest boys; and the third
bedroom had two double beds, one for me and my younger brother and one for the
two girls. So not only did we share bedrooms, we shared beds. Like I said, we
made it work, we had no other choice really. But, it wasn’t just that we
gritted our teeth and toughed it out, we actually didn’t mind it. At least I
didn’t.
There
was something about lying in bed, talking, laughing, and telling stories that I
wouldn’t have traded for anything, even my own room. It built a great
friendship between my younger brother and me, and with my sister who is a year
older than me (the “Three Little Ones”). If we had each had our own room, I
don’t think we would have had that. And I don’t think I would have learned to
get along with others as well either, because being together in such tight quarters
teaches you some great life lessons – sharing, respecting each other and each
other’s space, working out a conflict, and compromise. It’s best to learn those
at home while younger than learn them the hard way later in life.
I
still watch those HGTV shows, even if they do annoy me at times. The people
that think they’re doing their family a favor by buying huge houses where each
person gets their own wing of the house will find out some day that they missed
something. It wasn’t space, nor was it amenities, but something far more
important; time together in the same room.
