When we were little Mom worked in town and we would go to my grandparents after school almost every day. There were many days we didn’t want to go. They were kind, and patient but there were lots of rules. It was quiet, except for the sounds of my sister and I bickering.
Grandad would putter around outside in his garden, feeding the birds, preparing fish in his smokehouse or was at the woodpile (or we would help him roll cigarettes but hey, it was the 70s).
Grammie would be cooking, sewing, knitting, preserving or helping out with the local Red Cross Auxiliary. We often complained about being bored. No handheld devices back then and two channels on the TV and you can be darn sure we weren’t allowed the remote.
So we would be taught a skill, or be made (yes- made not bribed) to do chores.
I learned how to grow food, cook on a woodstove, mend clothes, knit, sew, paint, identify leaves, trees and birds. I would draw and read. We would play cards and learn the art of solataire.
It was a simple, small house without any extras besides a bird feeder and lawn chairs hauled out to sit in the shade every summer. There was a river to go wade into when we got really hot picking berries.
My grandparents, born in the early 1900s remembered a time before automobiles, and didn’t have to compete with the distractions of today and weren’t focused on what they didn’t have. They didn’t spend time or money to “entertain” us and we didn’t have a lot of toys there. I never heard once “ that’s enough screen time”. I am sure there were times we were underfoot when there was work to be done.
Is it foolish to think as a grandparent I could ever create such pockets of quietness (minus the cigarette rolling) for my grandkids today to land in? Do kids today go at a speed which makes this kind of care obsolete? Do WE go at a speed that makes this almost impossible?
It’s never easy going against the grain to live more simply. It’s a lot of work. Especially when the world is screaming “go faster!”
But it is possible because I’ve lived it.
A simple life and a pure love never go out of fashion.
Love Jenn xx