My Mother Teaching me to Do Without

Yesterday I posted about some things I do without. But it really got me to thinking about the things my mother did without when I was a child, and how much our society has changed.

1. I don't think we took the newspaper until I was at least 12. I could be wrong, but I remember reading my Aunt Diane's.

2. I never even heard of satellite until I was 15. When was it invented anyway? We had an old black and white television until I was 10 or 11.

3. I remember my mom having a Redbook subscription when I was in my early teens. She denies it, but I liked reading the, "Can this Marriage be Saved" column. She tore out the sex column so I couldn't read it.

4. When I was in elementary school, Mom & Diane would load us kids into the car and we'd go to the drive-in. We could bring our own popcorn & soda. I guess this was doing without going to the theater, but it was great fun.

5. We seldom ate out. But I don't know that many people did. I remember the first McDonald's came to town when I was 9 or 10. Our school class took a field trip there.

6. I don't remember having a phone until my brother was born. I was six. It was black, and we had a party line.

Then there are all the things I see as a necessity now. No washer until brother was born, and the dryer came later. No second car. Many trips to the grocery store and library with the wagon. No central air conditioning, except for a couple of years we lived in a townhome. Did we have any a/c before that? No dishwasher until I was around 16.

So many things that I never even knew we "needed". I'm a big believer in doing without. It's not always fun, but it builds an attitude of gratitude for the things we have.