A Lovely Home Life

I was in the city, shopping and travelling all day yesterday, with my three daughters.  My oldest two live far away from me, and I rarely get to see them.  But we carry "home" with us wherever we go. There is a dignity and an honor we have for our family name.  We have certain habits, cultured conversations, mannerisms and humor that are with us to remind us of Home wherever we are. . . As long as we are together in heart and mind, in person, in a letter or on the phone, the loveliness of home will always be with us.

I love to visit the homes of my grown children. I love to see the decorations, the housekeeping and the foods they make. Their homes are an extension of mine.  Their lives are an extension of mine. I am grateful to be their mother.

To add some culture to our homes, keeping it lovely, we try to avoid conflict. We try to make light of difficult situations. This limits the stressful moments.  Instead, we bring in lovely things. This might be classical music or classic literature.

This can also mean classical conversation. . . The other morning I commenced the reading of Dombey and Son by Dickens.  This puts me in a distinguished kind of mood that startles and amuses my children.

Here are some examples:

I might say, "You are to dine with the Smith family at the noon hour."   This translates as, "Your friend Joe Smith and his Mom are going to McDonald's and want you to go with them at 12:00."

or, if one of the kids brings in the mail and says, "Oh, here is that letter you have been waiting for!"
I would translate this, in casual conversation, as "The letter was announced."

Listening to Beethoven while cleaning the kitchen, or serving homemade pizza on fine china, are all special ways of making home lovely.

Painting my old kitchen an elegant sage green and calling my purple living room a Parlour are other ways to make things lovely.

These little daily actions of creating beauty and happiness are examples of loveliness.

These little touches of grace and refinement, make even the most humble home a happy place to be. My grown  children have often said to me, "Mom, we never knew we were poor. You always acted like we were rich."

blessings
Mrs. White

From the Archives -

The Greatest thing to pass on - Their Memories of Home.

It takes effort to have A Virtuous Day.

All I Ever Wanted was to Be Just a Regular Mom.