Born in the wrong era

[Moxie]

Anyone else feel like and old-fashioned girl stuck in the 21st century? I know I romanticize the past and there were some pretty terrible parts, I know. So many things that I love have no real value now. I would love to make quilts and blankets and bread to take care of my family but we have central heat, plenty of blankets and a grocery store a block away. I know I could still do all of those things but they aren't necessary now just another "hobby". Am I making sense?

 

Melissa

[j.griff]

I've been thinking about the "making things" lately, it just ends up cluttering our space- we have blankets, they are readily available for much less $ than it costs to invest in raw materials to make it myself. I do like homemade bread, but none of my loaves have been good for a pb&j sandwich, KWIM? <sigh>.

[Amy in NH]

I've felt that way since I was a child. But I do make homemade bread for nutrition, not as a hobby.

[CalicoKat]

until I realized that with my health challenges I would have been "pushing daisys" for 8 years already. . . no kids, no homeschooling, no real life living.

 

I'm content to be a modern girl these days. I do still enjoy the olden days, but no longer do I wish I'd been born then.

[chiguirre]

Well, if you'd like to work with your hands, quilting can be made into a part-time job. If you're good at it and disciplined, you could probably sell your quilts at a profit. Even if you don't make a profit, they're very appreciated as gifts. I have 6 quilts my grandmother made and they're lovely. I'm very glad she took the time to make them. OTOH, she quilted while watching her soaps, so she was very much a 20th century girl :D!

[Guest Lorna]

My sister is an engineer and had a gorgeous little baby boy a few months ago. She is going back to work three days a week soon and in the summer will be back full time. My little nephew will be in a nursery full-time and probably much of his waking time with his parents will be in the back of a car.

I know my family disapprove of me being a stay at home mum, but I have see so many families made unhappy by the pressures that modern society put on them to be earning. It is difficult to go against the grain and lose your value in society's eyes.

I wish people still had the same respect for family life they used to.

I certainly want to see women in the work-place. But, as things stand women don't earn or have opportunities like men anyway. We are still seriously undervalued, as are all the jobs women traditionally do - especially child rearing.

I am still waiting for the age when families can 'have it all'.

[Jenny in Atl]

Only when the world truly values children, cares genuinely about how they are nurtured and educated; when mothers, fathers, teachers, and such make as much as professional athletes or company CEO's, will we have it all.

[Denise in IN]

Well...since I'm surrounded by Amish neighbors, I'm well aware of some of the hardships of the past. I love my Amish friends and neighbors, but they work so hard! I'd never make it. I love my washer & dryer, dishwasher, and air conditioning way too much. I do appreciate the simplicity and quietness of their lifestyle, though.

 

Since I had a very difficult birth with my first ds, I assume I'd be one of the many women who died in childbirth. :(

 

There are aspects of the past I long for. But life was very hard, just in different ways.

[dangermom]

I'd be dead, so I'm quite a fan of modern medicine. Come to think of it, I'd be practically blind, too--no one would marry me anyway!

 

I do love a lot of old-fashioned things, but I like it that I don't have to do them. I can sew for fun (I sew a LOT) without having to bake bread and carry water too. A handmade quilt or dress is extra-meaningful even if it's not necessary. And I can make a lot more of them in less time...

[Kris]

When we first bought this land, we lived on it sans electricity, telephone, etc., for several years. It wasn't *that* bad -- but I'm not signing up to do it again, either. ;-)

 

I love to quilt, sew, bake -- but maybe that's because I can and not because I have to.

[iquilt]

and all are received and well appreciated gifts by my friends and family. I will teach all of my kids to quilt and bake, simply for the pure joy that can come from it. For some, not so relaxing, but for me quilting, sewing cute dresses and vests for holiday events, baking fresh bread or chocolate chip cookies can be so rewarding. Plus all can be used for many homeschooling activities;)

[Mrs Mungo]

Anyone else feel like and old-fashioned girl stuck in the 21st century? I know I romanticize the past and there were some pretty terrible parts, I know. So many things that I love have no real value now. I would love to make quilts and blankets and bread to take care of my family but we have central heat, plenty of blankets and a grocery store a block away. I know I could still do all of those things but they aren't necessary now just another "hobby". Am I making sense?

 

Melissa

 

No, no, no. Not me, no sir. I definitely love my shorts, flip-flops, hair producs, tampons and right to vote. ;)

[Danestress]

Anyone else feel like and old-fashioned girl stuck in the 21st century? I know I romanticize the past and there were some pretty terrible parts, I know. So many things that I love have no real value now. I would love to make quilts and blankets and bread to take care of my family but we have central heat, plenty of blankets and a grocery store a block away. I know I could still do all of those things but they aren't necessary now just another "hobby". Am I making sense?

 

Melissa

 

Makes sense for you, and I have moments when I share your nostalgia for the past, but not a lot of them. If my family depended on me for sewing clothes and blankets and making soap and candles, I think it would seriously cut into my reading time:) I like to cook from scratch for my family, but no one is stopping me. I *hate* sewing, crafts, etc. I made on quilt one time, and it was one quilt too many for me:)

 

I personally am happy to live in an era when I can flip on a light in bed and read, and no one seriously questions whether a woman ought to spend time reading. I also like voting. I like asprin. I adore my birth control options. I love the concept of a public library at which I can check out one of thousands of books. I like my modern marriage. I liked law school and I liked college. I like owning the Bible - in several translations, and I appreciate the Bible study resources available to me today. I like eating vegetables in the winter. Fresh or frozen ones. I've never liked most canned vegetables.

 

I like having parents in their 70s who can take things like blood pressure medications, eye drops for glaucoma, and advil. I really liked not loosing one of my twins at birth, who I almost certainly would have in the past. And along those lines, I like having childbirth options.

 

I do get really stressed out and unhappy about modern man's impact on the earth and the climate, and sometimes I wish I could live in an era when there were simply fewer people and more open land. I wish I could have seen the night sky almost every clear night the way you could have seen in before city lights and street lights. I often miss life before the internet and cell phones, though I (obviously) use the internet and I do own a cell phone.

 

I guess I do have some basic advantages of life though - a husband with a job and no commute, a community I grew up in, where my parents live, where I still live, with friends old and new and a church that feels like a real family. I like that, and that's getting rare in this world. If I felt like I had to work, had to live far from family, had a husband who was always traveling or who worked in a souless, demanding job, I might feel differently.