We Can't Go Back!

In light of the increase of foreclosures, I got to thinking about the houses most people lived in – say – forty or fifty years ago. Most families in United States and Canada lived in simple five or six-room houses. That would be two or three bedrooms and a bathroom, a kitchen, living room and perhaps a dining room. In northern areas, many houses had basements, and some of them were “finished” to be usable space, appropriate for children to play during inclement weather. Others were suitable only for storage of preserves, canned goods, potatoes and onions and possibly boxed out-of-season clothing.

Houses were fairly close together – 30 and 40 foot lots were common and neighbors knew each other and their children played together.

When I sold real estate in the 70s in Toronto, one of my clients was a family of two parents and six children who lived in a house typical for then with several children sharing a bedroom. One day their home was purchased with others for development and they had to find a new one.

Since they had been well-paid for this original house, we found them a larger split design on four levels with extra family room, totally finished basement and three or four baths. It was on a corner lot and was a very attractive house.

When I visited them once they were settled in, I noticed that they were all gathered in the family room, everyone attending to what they were doing, just as they had been in their original house.

At what point in time did families change to large houses with several different areas? Was that when families stopped sitting down to dinner together? Was that when children stopped telling their parents and siblings what they had done that day? Was that when mothers starting working? Was that when marriages more commonly started falling apart and multiple marriages became the norm?

Is there some way we can go back to simpler times? Probably not, because most of the people marrying and raising families today have only heard the stories similar to what I am telling you. This just does not mesh with today’s high tech and there is probably no turning back!

The longing for peace and quiet is still strong among most of us. Possibly one way to achieve this in part is to set aside an area in our homes where we can just sit quietly for even a few minutes. We can listen to calming music, read or have a quiet chat. If we set aside some contemplative, quiet time each day, we can refresh ourselves to get back to the multi-tasking, high-tech lives we lead today.