Speaking Up about Home Staging

Were they serious!  I mean if he stays out all night!  Well..I wont say what my dad told me but there arent many things open after 12!

Melissa ~ Thanks for sharing this although I am gagging reading it!  The list reminds me of this joke:

A husband and wife are at the doctor's office for the husband's check-up.  The doctor asks the husband to leave the room so he can speak with the wife, and the husband goes to wait in the car.  The doctor turns to the wife and says, "your husband will die if you do not cater to his every whim, make all his favorite foods and have sex with him every  night".  The wife just nods her head.  When she gets back in the car the husband says, "What did the doctor say?" and the wife replies, "You're going to die".

Melissa,

Things were different in the 50's, remember the husband was the bread winner and the wife was the homemaker & mother.   Looking back maybe things weren't so bad then. 

Maybe the reason there are not enough good jobs to go around today is that people don't stay married or don't get married today.  Maybe that's why housing prices & rentals are so high priced also, we need many more with all the single people. 

Maybe I am wrong, just thinking out loud.

Wow Melissa!  Now I know why my mom stayed at home, without a car and 5 children while my dad worked.  Maybe this is why some of us are afraid of our dads!  One thing still stands, I don't greet my husband with complaints...right away!  :-)  But I do think my day is more interesting.  So does he!

Diane Concialdi - DC Redesign 

OMG, anyone who doesn't think we've progressed, needs to read this!!! My poor mother had to have a hot, well balanced dinner on the table every night at 5:30 sharp. AND, my dad was too cheap to go out to lunch, so he came home from work every day at noon, and she was expected to have a hot lunch for him too!!! If it was me, he would have to be happy with a bologna sandwich in a paper bag, and I would insist that I don't want to see his face until evening came!!!

The best thing about the 50's? Kids playing outside all day, and coming in when the street lights came on! Of course, this was before my time! ;)

I think most of us would agree that progress has definately be made.  Women probably lead more interesting lives.  I agree with Debbie to some degree though.  I was a stay at home mom for 14 years.  I had a business out of the home, but it's not like now... I really was home all the time.  I made dinner every night.  We didn't have money to do anything else.  We had one car - which most of the time my husband took to work.  We did (and still do) have family dinners, game night, etc. 

When I was a stay at home mom I didn't ask my husband to help me clean or cook.  I felt that was my job - to provide the home so he could work.  I did expect him to help raise our children, mow the lawn, etc.  (Though I admit to kind of liking mowing the lawn now... ipod - time to myself)  I wanted that 1950s lifestyle.  I wouldn't even have minded cooking in a dress in pearls. 

Now that my kids are mostly older (middle school, high school & college) and I have this business I expect more help around the house, with dinner, etc.... boy did I screw that up back in the day.  Now everyone expects me to do it - even though I work every bit as much. 

While I think it is great that we have the choices we have, I have to say that I don't necessarily think we are, as a nation, better off now.  We have more women and children on the street or living in poverty.  So many of our youth have no parents to come home to and when/if they do come home, they are too tired and overworked to be anything to their kids.  I'm not saying this is always the case.  Of course some women/families do it wonderfully - it is a problem, particularly in lower income families where both families HAVE to work and single parents.   Now the question is how do we fix what has been broken?  There certainly is no going back.....

Melissa

I often think back to the simpler times and how good they were for me. I can't say I go back to the 50's because I wasn't even born yet. But I do think back to the 70's where time seemed to be at a slower pace.

My folks would never work a weekend, they were family times. And vacations every year NO matter how busy they were. They owned restaurants in the city of Chicago and would close them down for a week.

Now it seems vacations are things we do if we can squeeze it in before the next job, or if you can get time off work.

So I can say I do miss the good ole days. But times have changed and we have to change with them to keep up.

I still have the memories though, and I treasure them. I guess I feel if I can work my butt off now, I can afford to retire early. But that's probably not a health way of doing things because you miss so much in the mean time, and you can never get time back once it's gone.

I wish I could learn how to treasure my time now, before it to late.

Great Post

Regards

BB

 

Ahhhhhh Melissa, some people only wish they lived in the 50's, while I can say I actually did.  I miss it so much that I watch the movie Pleasantville as often as its on TV.  When Toby McGuire pushes the button on the remote control I hang on tight and jump right back to the 50's with him!  The only thing better than the 50's was the mid to late 60's.  That was a total blast!

Melissa - One of the things I've often wondered about in the '40s and '50s is the total lack of personality in home decor.  Okay, I know that the Depression had an influence on people's attitudes towards frivolous spending.  But have you ever noticed how "blah" cookie-cutter the interiors of homes were back then?  Everyone's living room looked the same: sofa, "his" chair, "her" chair, a pair of lamps, always a bar with the makings for "his" martini at the end of the day.  Bedrooms had no-nonsense bedspreads.  The only thing you'd find hanging on the walls in a kitchen were cooking utensils.  Everything was so utilitarian.  Women chatted about recipes, not home decor or the latest paint colors.  And who had time for decorating when you had to cook everything from scratch and iron every item of clothing?  I, for one, am GLAD that homelife has evolved to include "nesting" and creating comfortable environments that reflect our personalities.  Anyone else agree?

Brian - what you say about time for family & vacations is just so true!  We don't take them as often as we would like, but we do make time to go to a lake cabin a long weekend a few times a year.  Most of my family also loves roller coasters and theme parks - we visit those a few times a year also - even if only for a day. 

Terry - Pleasantville is one of my all time favorite movies.  I also love the movie That Thing You Do - which is more the 1960s, but still that more 'simple' life

Andrea - I can't agree about the 1950s.. I personally love the decor.  I think it was sort of the beginning of personality showing... it just was subtle.  Trends have to start somewhere though....

I am speechless.

Melissa, Like Terry, I was young but very much alive in the 50s.  I grew up in southern California so my 50s experience was probably very different than most.  Maybe it was where I lived but womens roles had already changed drastically.  The only place we seen anyone like Mrs. Cleaver in the article you posted above, was on the TV, which was new also. The 50s the new style was black and white colors, Chrome and leather furniture for the dinning room,  really big and bold patterns on sofas & chairs, the start of laminated wood pieces and cheesy looking art & accessories.  If you wanted to see the future, you went to Disneyland.  God I feel old, Thanks Melissa.

Awww.... Gary - I didn't mean to make you feel old!  You are only as old as you feel....

I m a product of the 50's and there was both good and bad.  You might like to read my recent blogs on 50's music and things.

Gayle - Thanks for letting me know about the 1950s stuff in your blogs.  I must have missed those.... the songs you listed definately bring a happy feeling in my brain....

Melissa, I think my mom was the wife in that article.  She always changed her clothes and put on lipstick when daddy was coming home, had a hot meal ready, ironed all the clothes, kept the house spotless, and baked cookies or had a cake waiting when we kids got home from school.  Okay she was a little more outspoken than the above wife, but all I remember are the good times.  I agree with Elaine - although she didn't actually experience it :) playing outside until dark was heavenly.  My mom did get a job in the 60's.  Betty

Melissa, Thanks for the GREAT POST.   I LOVE the 50's era too.  I watch Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith and think, "Oh, if only I could be in the  good old days"    And then . . I read that article!  I was DYING of laughter!!    I'd never cut it - June Cleaver I'm not!    By the way, have you seen "Mad Men" on TBS I think?    It is an awesome show - set in about the early sixties.   Thanks for making my night!

Hi Melissa-

Interesting post! I am still laughing over Kathy P's joke.  I was born in the fifties &  my college educated mom stayed home with 4 kids, but I witnessed the constant worry over finances. After working and paying my way through college, I gained an independence and confidence that still benefits me to this day.Academic education is very important, but even more important is character education & I hope we are giving enough of this to our children...

Kathy