The "Big House Syndrome"

"Big house syndrome" (n) -

1. group of identifying signs and symptoms: a group of signs and symptoms that together are characteristic or indicative of a specific disease or other disorder in which a person believes people living in large houses have more money to spend.

When we first moved in to our last home, I knew I'd have to hire a cleaning service. As our neighborhood was only at the half-way mark of being completely built out, I wasn't sure what service to trust. The first cleaning crew I hired charged over $300 to clean the entire house. It was two people and it took them an entire day. I felt the price was a bit high, but justified it as I knew I couldn't clean the house in one day alone. Slowly, as the neighborhood was growing, and our city's population was booming I learned I was paying far too much. Other companies charged around $100 and were much quicker at getting the job done.

We constantly had door-knockers wanting to sell their services to us. The flyers being left on our door and under our mat were almost a daily occurrence. Painters, carpenters, lawn services, Christmas light hanging companies, food delivery trucks, all of these were regulars in our neighborhood. I knew the advertising bombardment would never end. I'd call the numbers on the catalogs and tell them to take me off their list, but that didn't seem to work. There were always new companies wanting to sell their goods to me.

At Christmastime, UPS would place a PODS unit (Portable on Demand Storage) at the main pool parking lot, and leave two golf carts inside. This saved UPS on gas due to the large amount of daily deliveries to the neighborhood. The UPS drivers would brave the cold and wet by draping plastic around the golf carts while dropping off hundreds of packages to our neighbors. So yes, there were plenty of people around that had extra cash to spend, or they all had really giving relatives.

One Halloween, as part of my costume, I wore a HUGE fake diamond ring, possibly 20 carats. A friend of mine, commented on my ring and I told her it was fake. She waved her hand around pointing to my house and said, "Well, you've got all this. So you never know!"

Our neighborhood was a prime target for consumerism, yes. And it only seems logical that in order to afford a larger house, a person has to make more money to pay the mortgage. But does that guarantee that the individual has more disposable income, or necessarily wants to spend more on extras? Not necessarily.

Assumptions are often made on looks alone but don't let yourself be fooled by "The Big House Syndrome"!

It's About Time

I want a show of hands of who wants to clean five bathrooms? From the famous Ferris Bueller, "Anyone? Anyone?" Me? I've decided that one bathroom is good.

As soon as my mother heard of how many bathrooms were built in my last home, her first exclamation was, "How are you going to remember to stock all the toilet paper?" Haha! That was the easy part.

I have consciously decided that after giving an entire decade of my life to taking care of a 5,100 square foot home, that it was a huge waste of time. Time spent cleaning, and picking up, and cleaning, and picking up. It got to a point where I couldn't finish one room, without being challenged by the next, only to go back to the first room, perturbed that it still wasn't cleaned up! I did not agree to paint the Golden Gate Bridge people!

"Enlist the help of my kids!" I thought. That was a great idea, except in reality I'd still spend my time managing their cleaning. Truth be told, I'd leave them to clean up, and yes they'd start, but as soon as I'd get back to check on them they'd be playing with a toy they hadn't seen in a month.

A good friend of mine, one much smarter than I, Kathy, once said, "I prefer time to money." That was very surprising to me, doesn't everyone love money? She was right. Your time, and what you do with it, is far more important in life. Experiencing the relief of not having to care for such a large home, and spending time with my kids is far more rewarding any day of the week.

Of course, ten years ago, moving into a five bedroom home with a game room and theater was exciting! I had never lived in such a large home. And yes, having a maid service come once every two weeks was extremely helpful. But I was still spending far too much time taking care of the house and the furnishings in it. I knew I was reaching the end of my rope with it when I recently exclaimed to my husband, "I hate this house," after vacuuming for 2.5 straight hours.

We all have only 24 hours in a day. What is your trade-out? What do you trade your hours for? I'm done trading my precious 24 for cleaning and maintaining a home larger than I'll ever need. My trade-out needs to be a lifetime of memories spent with my children.

Adios 5,100. Hello 600.

When Nature Calls

The air was still. No sound could be heard. I awoke in the middle of the night as I knew something was wrong. No breeze was blowing from the fan and no noise emitted from my sound machine.

"Oh no, not again!" I thought."Please don't let this be another electrical issue!" (refer to my earlier post) I lay there in half-slumber wondering what to check first in the RV to remedy the situation.

Then it happened! I'd been waiting for over a month for this joyous occasion. I heard the COYOTES howl! I've been told by our park neighbors that the local coyote pack could be heard at night. Most of my neighbors have heard them as our rv's back up to the tree-lined field. The running joke was that maybe my kids had scared their pack away! But I heard them.

First there was a long howl, followed by short yips and coyote barks. I couldn't be more thrilled! I wanted to wake the kids but the howling stopped very quickly. The large tree that sits behind our bus might be the nightly gathering place for the coyotes to meet up. "What were they talking about tonight?" I wondered.

I slept peacefully the remainder of the night replaying the natural and beautiful sounds of  the howlings of our fellow coyotes.

And yes, thankfully, I did solve the electrical issue quickly. The bathroom GFI had been tripped. Problem solved, fan and fake rain sound back on.

I quote a friend of mine, Jennifer Morris, when I say, "Spooning with a smiling coyote high up in the hills surrounded by boulders and crickets under the big bright full moon. Life is sweet."

The Games that People Play

"What can you do inside a RV?" you might ask. "With three kids, you must be crazy!" Not at all my friend, not at all. There are so many outside activities here for my kids, that my responsibility of providing inside healthy stimulation for them has taken a backseat since moving here.

Sure, I brought board games, Barbies, K'nex, Lego's, coloring books, and much more. But during daylight hours they are hardly touched. And I couldn't be happier.

Our park, and many others that cater to families, has a basket ball court that all three of my kids love to hang out on. What a great way to make friends than to shoot a little competitive b-ball with your neighbors. Isn't it great how jump ropes never go out of style either?

The swimming pool has been a wonderful addition to our almost-daily routine. It is not heated, and the fellow campers marvel at how my kids have no problem with the cold. Do you think it stops them?

As I said earlier in my blog, we are fortunate to have a wide area of greenery behind us where the kids play soccer, throw paper airplanes (yes, we still do this) and blow bubbles. Three cheers for nostalgic activities!

This park offers a game-room with a pool table. Camp-ground scheduled games are played on Tuesday nights, but the pool table was fun for visiting grandparents. Tables and chairs are set up, perfect for reading stories and fashion magazines with grandma!

Although fire pits are not provided at every campsite here, they are thoughtful enough to offer free wood at a communal fire pit. Roasting hot dogs and smore's are an all time favorite with kids and grownups alike. Yes, that'd be me.

I tell you what, if chickens could smile, this Mamma Hen would be grinning from ear to ear!

It's a Dog's Life

Ah, hanging out in a lounger with the wind in your hair, taking in the scenery. Sounds like a perfect day for you, right? Or maybe your dog? Our neighbor pooches have it good here.

Interested in doing the RV thing? Then you've got to get a dog. I'd say by the looks of the locals, two out of every three RVr's (is that a word?) have a dog. They are the ideal travel companion for someone in the close confines of a RV.

What brings people together? Children and pets. Since a large majority of the rv travelers are of the senior population, their kids are older and have moved on. What's next in line? A family pooch! Or two. Dogs are a great conversation starter. They love to "say hi" to each other, and although we as humans do it in a much more refined way, it opens up the doors for conversation starters.

We've got a pooch, a small mixture of sorts. He's a rescue who's nice and quiet. My youngest loves to dress him up and play games with him. Thankfully he never seems to mind.

Be prepared for the barkers and yappers! Ours rarely says a word and when he finally responds to a local barking dog, its with such a hilarious non-intimidating growl that I'm just glad he's showing a little gusto. We have a dog park inside this RV park campgrounds. Yes, our pup thinks he can run with the big dogs. Not happening.

Our immediate neighbor has three small dogs and one bird. Another local has a black large dog and a black cat. The cat does wander but always comes home. Another friend here has two very large dogs, about 100 lbs each. I have no idea where they hang out inside an RV, maybe each have their own chair.

The puppies have it made-in-the-shade around here. I am oh-so grateful that mine sleeps during the day, likes a small walk, and sleeps all night. No yapping here!

Where you find RVs, you will find dogs.

What Doesn't Turn On is Best Left Off

As a concerned mom about the influx of media into our kid's lives, I couldn't be happier to give the following report! My kids are NOT running to the television every day after school! Hooray! This couldn't make me as a Mamma Hen happier!

I've often thought that the layout of a house directly dictates the type of activities that occur within the home. People most often take this for granted. Articles have been written on how having a large kitchen, central to the layout of the house, might be making people fatter with the concentration being on eating while in the kitchen! Yes, makes logical sense. I get that.

The last layout of our house, although the house was large, was an open floorplan which seemed to have everything gravitating around the kitchen and living room. What was the focal point of the living room? The television! My husband hung a huge flatscreen tv over the fireplace. I would have preferred it be in the side cabinet with doors that shut to keep it obscured, but he is most definitely a tv aficionado. My kids seemed to congregate in front of the television at any given time of day.

This, as I am thrilled to report, is not happening in the RV! Yes, there are two tv's in our new "home", one in the living area and one in the bedroom. But my kids have shown zero interest! As soon as we get home from school, they break out the soccer ball, the basketball, and head to the grassy area by our RV to immediately play with friends. I don't even have to ask them to do it! Yippee!!

Every responsible parent wants more activity in their kid's lives, and less stagnation. And I am not "against television" as my husband puts it. (Although I think "reality shows" are one of America's biggest waste of time.) I am excited and relieved at this unexpected and immediate shift in my children's behavior.

I can function from almost anywhere inside the RV and watch them play with their friends, as we have many windows in here. Or I can actually take the time to pull out a portable folding chair and sit down to take in this wonderful turn of events.

Score 1 for the RV way of life!

The First Week - A Test of Patience

Once the decision was made to "go small", we had little to no apprehension about our move to 600 square feet. I was actually excited about the opportunity! I looked forward to "camping out" and making it fun for the kids.

But with all things great and small comes responsibility. The first night in our new home, the 600 square foot RV, the power went out. I assumed it was my error, plugging in a fan, my phone, and the alarm clock all into one outlet via an extension cord might not have been the best idea.

I decided to figure it out for myself by reading our RV instruction manuals.I checked all of the GFI outlets. Check! The breakers weren't tripped and the fuses weren't blown. The next day I noticed the outlets weren't working, the washer worked and the dryer didn't. (yes I thankfully have appliances in here!) The dishwasher worked but the fridge did not. I must have a cell phone, especially for emergencies, so charging my phone in our car was no big deal, although I have the type of car that won't charge unless the car is on.

The main concern were the lights. Day after day the lights were getting dimmer. I had to start using a flashlight to get around at night.The red LP Gas Protector light started blinking inside the RV, although the propane supply was low. Since I wasn't sure if it was malfunctioning due to lack of power or not, I decided calling a repairman was the only choice.

Success! The electrical wires inside the connector head had fallen off of their contact point! Only 50% were still attached. With that figured out and our outlets working, it was finally time to replace our milk and start really living in our new home. Again, it was time to get excited and start taking notes on how this journey might change us all for the better.

I agreed to go small but being unprepared to live off-grid was not in the plan!