Little house, big life

September 11, 2010

Every week I see a new article online about the trend towards downsizing your home, your car, your life.  Hummer – General Motor’s response to our desire to outsize our neighbors – was recently shut down. 

The Wall Street Journal reported a few weeks ago that the era of the McMansion is over.  American’s are dismissing the idea that square footage equals happiness.

I was a kid in the 80s, the age of excess.  Big was better.  Big hair, big houses, big shoulder pads… We watched Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and dreamed of having indoor pools and 12 car garages. 

I tried wearing those dreams around into my adult life for a while.  They were kind of like the shoulder pads – pointless, uncomfortable, and they just got in the way.

We recently received an invitation to a one-year-old’s birthday party.  It specified, “No gifts, just your presence.”  I love this.  I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to do the same.

A few weeks ago my son celebrated his fourth birthday.  He received so many toys that I’m struggling to find a place to store them in our house.  We are blessed with so many generous friends and family, and I am deeply grateful.  But I also want my son to learn there is more to life than stuff. 

There were four generations of family crammed into our little house for the party.  Now that’s a gift.  But I’m not sure my son could see the guests through the giant mound of packages. 

Every kid deserves a few birthday presents.  But when he opens something that requires use of his imagination and he says “Where do I put the batteries?” before tossing it aside, something needs to change.

I like the idea of downsizing before we even have the opportunity to upsize.  Our house is small, but it serves its purpose.  It has room for a four-year-old to play freeze dancing in the living room; to race his matchbox cars across the kitchen floor. 

We have a decent-sized laundry room, and an extra bathroom to prevent anyone from doing the “gotta go” dance outside the bathroom door.

I’m not saying we’ll stay in our house forever.  But I hope when we have the opportunity to expand our living space, we keep things in perspective.  I never want to have a formal living room that kids aren’t allowed to enter. 

I want to live in every inch of my home.  I don’t want so much space that the whole family can hide from one another. 

One silver lining to this recession is that we spend less time collecting stuff, and more time collecting memories.  I sometimes get wrapped up in the things I think I need to make my house a home. 

Wouldn’t the living room be cozier with a new TV stand?  Wouldn’t new curtains warm up the kitchen? I like pretty things, and I enjoy decorating my home.  But smiles and time together are free, and they don’t require much space. 

Curtains and furniture get old and wear out.  Toys are outgrown or outmoded or broken.  But a big life never goes out of style.

This article first appeared in the Lewistown News-Argus and the Sidney (Mont.) Herald on September 11, 2010.