in history and live there, even for a while, which time would you pick and why?

I find myself drawn to the late 40's/early 50's. Family values seemed to be still pretty strong then, and yet there were antibiotics and other medical advances, so I wouldn't be dead from pneumonia in the first winter. I would never have made it as a pioneer.

Women did work then, but you could also be a SAHM without being hassled. Fashions were more modest (sorry, but I still can't get used to seeing bare pregnant bellies in Target or teenage boys with their pants falling off).

TV was around, but technology wasn't at the obsessive level it is today, so there was time to do things besides surf the web or check e-mail. Also, no one would whip out a cell phone in front of me, cut off our conversation and walk five feet away to talk to someone else.

I think people lived more in the present then, and I also think they enjoyed life more- think of all the dinner clubs and dances and neighborhood get-togethers that have faded from our time.

But that is just me- what about you?

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I think i would have liked to have been a teenager in that same time era. Poodle skirts, saddle shoes and pony tails. However I don't think i would have wanted to be a wife then. I think many women were not happy in the roll of mother and pretty much sole care taker of the children (many kids) and homes. Most men were not as available as fathers are now a days. Fathers then brought home a pay check and imo were not emotionally available to the wife or children. This is just how i see it. Maybe others have different opinions or experiences??

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Jodie....Wife to Andrew (1995)
Mommy to Riley (2000) and Wyatt (2003)

I think I'd wanna live accross the field from the Ingalls

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Avoid Fruits~N~Nuts....you are what you eat!!!

All the SAHM's I know are envied. My kids are grown up and I am still working!

I liked the 40's era, being a housewife was getting easier with the advancements in technology, it was a tough life but very rewarding.

I wouldn't want to live in any other time besides the present. I love reading historical fiction and novels - D.H. Lawrence and the first part of the 20th century, or anything Jane Austin, etc. But life wasn't nearly as good as it is today, despite all the romanticizing I do about it!

Most importantly, women were never as "equal" as we are today. Certainly not in the 17th or 18th centuries, and not even in the 40s and 50s. I would hate to give up my status in society, which was fought for by many women before me. I'm not a big feminist, I just believe in equality.

As for what has changed in society and what it means to have "fun", I think this is all a matter of personal choice. We don't have a TV. We have one laptop and a stereo system (with a single-disk CD player!) and that is about all our media equipment. One of my best friends loves to play Scrabble as her biggest hobby and I made a quilt over the summer... The great thing about the present is that we can CHOOSE what we want and how we want to live our lives. I don't feel that my life is determined by limitations set by society (or technology, even), but rather by my needs and my worldview. How lucky we are to live in such freedom! I wouldn't trade it for the world!

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~ mama abroad

"Be the change that you want to see in the world." -Ghandi

check out my culture shock blog: A View from the Outside

I would only want to live today also. There are bad things today, things are more hectic, sure, but you can choose to not live that lifestyle, too. As women we have more luxuries and rights than ever before! Yes, values are sure different, but we can choose those, too. It is harder to live a family centered life, but we do it and I know others who do it, too.

As idyllic as the 50's look, it was not all great either for many of the same reasons Jodie said. I am not a feminist by any means, but I do appreciate my rights that we have now that we didn't always have then. I am a sahm, proud of it, but I am also an educated woman, have three degrees and had a career. Sure, I gave it up for my family, but that was my CHOICE, not was what was expected of me at 18 or earlier.

I am not a feminist AT ALL and consider myself pretty conservative. It was only in 1920, not even 100 years ago, that we were allowed to vote. Can you imagine? My grandmothers were both born BEFORE women were allowed to vote! That is really not that long ago.

Off my n my soapbox:

Just be happy with where you are at. The grass is always greener, but I bet any woman in the 50s or any other time period would be jealous of our opportunities for the most part.

I was thinking about that recently when I read
How My Mother Raised 10 Children on 25 Words or Less
It took place in the the 1950s. So eye opening and so inspirational. And way better than the movie. It's such a good read to inspire more simple living and the pros and cons of that time period.

I use to say I wanted to live at the turn of the century, (late 1800s) because I was fascinated with that time period. It dawned on me later that I would have lived a good simple life then if I had been born into the upper class, with maids, servants, governesses and tutors but if I had been born into the lower class, then that's an entirely different story. I like now too because it's so much more about choice rather than class or necessity. I can choose whatever career I want without being tied down by my gender or what class I was born into.

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I would just live simplier in today's world. With all the medical advances there is no way I'd ever go backward. I had cancer 15 years ago and even 30 years ago I wouldn't have survived!!

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My Dh and I have also talked about this and we both agree the 1950s would be better for us. We have always felt a little out of place in this time era. My husband has even been called Elvis by people because he sort of looked like him before he started growing a beard. I like most of the values in that time era and the fashions were cool. I 'm wearing a ponytail as I type this. We both sort of have that look. My brother-in-law used to tease my DH and said that the 1950s called and wanted their hairstyle back. I listen to the old rock n roll also and it's so innocent compared to today's lyrics. Also the movies and t.v. shows were not so explicit. We get a kick out of watching them. Oh how things have changed. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s.

When I go out into the world I realize that I do live in a simpler time then most. We do things 'old school' at my house. I make things homemade and try to keep things simple. Some of the people at the mall do live in another world.

When I brought out a homemade cake for my daughter's birthday the other moms were shocked that I had time to bake it. I did make it from scratch but it didn't take that long! It would take longer to make a special trip to the grocery store so my daughter didn't see me buy it. She wouldn't understand why we would buy a cake when we could make it.

I guess my point is that you can live your life the way you want no matter what the date on the calendar.

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