The best way to be a parent is to show them the world

This was the statement made on a late night television show last night. On a regular basis the media throws at us expectations of what a *good* parent is. What we should teach our kids, how we should treat them, and, sometimes unknowingly, this is how we set our own expectations of being a parent. The statement above made me think, I have never taken my kids to Paris, England, or Germany. We have never been as far as Florida before as a family. If we look at the statement above, I don't even make the grade on the parent scale. According to the media's viewpoint.

But, is that where I set my personal standards from?

No, I don't.

I set my expectations of being a parent on the type of parents I had. As a child, I had never been to Florida, or California. Our *big* vacations were to go to Cedar Point once a year. And, that was only for a day. In my own childhood I was blessed to have parents who provided me with things I needed. Food, shelter, enough toys to stay busy, but most important, they provided me with love. My mother also gave me the love of crafting. Probably the first craft was latch hooking. This led to cross stitching and eventually, knitting and sewing. My father gave me the love of being outdoors, of camping, and of fishing.  These are all skills I still use on a daily basis to keep my family warm, to provide decorations in the house and food for my family. Actually, this last part falls to my husband to be the provider for hunting and fishing, but I love to go with him!


If we reflect for a minute on the topic header, my parents failed. But, did they really? Children who see the
world are well traveled, probably speak more than a few languages and have plenty of pictures to show places they have been.  I have pictures of the "big one" that I caught fishing with my dad, I have a picture of my first latch hook and in the picture is my mother and I. My parents gave me the skills to be able to live the way God intended us to live,  live simply in the real world. I don't require the best or the nicest car. I just want what I need to live. Really, when you think about it, in the end, that is all we really need.

I don't know from personal experience, but I would be willing to bet in my later years, the picture of the fish is much more special to me that a picture of the biggest momument in the world. 

Wintertime chores

Everyone has chores. Simplicity is not about sleeping the winter away - although I do think we tend to sleep more during this time- simplicity in the winter is about doing wintertime chores we do not have time for during the summer.

Currently, I have two projects going:
The first is knitting a blanket for my youngest daughter, you see, we do not purchase blankets and quilts at the store, we make them. I started making my daughter's blanket a few days ago, it should take me a few more weeks to finish. Normally, I knit at night while we are watching tv or when I am going laundry.

My second project I am currently working on is a quilt for my son's bed. I bought the fabric at JoAnn's. This takes much more time than knitting and it is a bit harder only because I have to set aside a few hours at a time to do this. But, as the old saying goes "anything worth doing is worth doing well". By the end of December I hope to have both of these projects finished up!

Walmart,, out of business??

No, I am not advocating for Walmart to close it's doors. I personally have nothing against the big chain stores, with the exception they seem to have contributed to the downfall of the mom and pop stores. They can sell things at a cheaper price, so that is where people tend to shop. Where it's cheaper.

I have a firm belief in The Lord. My personal belief is that The Lord has provided us with everything we need to survive, not Kmart, Meijer, or Walmart. Don't get me wrong, you will see my car at Walmart, I am with everyone else, they have great prices, my point is: I simply do not spend enough there to keep them in business. What do I purchase there?

Dried beans
Onions
Alfredo Sauce
Rice
Aquafina
That comes to about $30.00 per month.

This is not so much about not supporting big businesses, it's more about having the simplicity of only purchasing what we need or making what we need. We do not purchase:

Clothes
Furniture

Once a year we do a *big* shopping trip for things that we do not make that includes:

All underclothes
socks
Yarn

Our total yearly costs at department chain store comes to about $450 per year. Last time I was in walmart the person ahead of me spend around $250 and this was usual for her.

I couldn't help but wonder, I can understand a person shopping at Walmart because it's cheaper. But, how much did she purchase that she didn't need or did not intend on purchasing, but purchased it anyway because it was convenient and maybe she could find it cheaper elsewhere?

Are there items you purchase at big chain stores that you purchase because they have cheaper prices, but, actually end up spending more because you didn't do your due diligence and find out what stores really had the best prices?