Parade of Homes thoughts

I haven’t really written about housing since I created this blog and let my real estate blog alone.  However, my visits to the homes on this year’s Salt Lake Parade of Homes has started up my thinking again.  This could have something to with a book that I’ve been reading on and off lately about how it takes a strong father to raise a strong daughter.  I’ve come to some conclusions in my head, but I don’t know if they’re formulated enough to put down in writing.  I guess I will try anyway.

I think the main thought I have been having is on entitlement attitudes in the generation that we are now raising.  I don’t have children, so I can’t criticize others for not doing enough, nor can I praise myself for not falling victim to the traps that I see outside of my home.  I see what I see and I neither fault or pardon myself.

The Parade of Homes is supposed to be a display of the best that builders have to offer.  I understand that, but I also know that these homes will be purchased soon.  Countless other homes just like them are already lived in.  But whether the Parade is merely a display or not, nobody can deny that the outrageously extravagant kids’ rooms are meant to be emulated or duplicated.  Sponsors put their products in there for a reason – so people will create in their own homes what they see in the Parade.  This is natural and is the outcome of any home show.

My observation is that the models have gone beyond overboard.  I see children’s rooms that have more than enough space to be the master bedroom.  Does your baby’s room need a walk in closet and a toilet and shower?  Baby probably won’t be showering for a few years, but there it is.  Do your young ones need their own rooms, each one almost as big as their parent’s room and with just as many furnishings?  Do they each need their own bathrooms, flat screen TV’s, computers, and sound systems?  My answer is not only ‘no’, it’s ‘not in my lifetime’.

Back to the book I’ve been reading.  The author has made her point clearly enough that young and adolescent girls (boys aren’t exempt – they’re just not part of the book) cannot not afford to continue following what the mainstream expects of them.  This author, who sees young female patients daily and treats their depression, STD’s, self-image issues, and much more, writes that kids need to be shielded from this stuff, not encouraged to participate in it.  The data is overwhelming.  All of it is linked.  Depression, lack of values taught in the home at a young age, weak-willed parents, and an acceptance of what society says we must have.

So as fun as the Parade of Homes is, I tend to look underneath the surface a little.  The home is not the problem, but the underlying beliefs that lead us to believe we need a home like that, are.  If we think that the kids aren’t getting the message loud and clear, then we should think again.  Last night, we saw two boys who couldn’t have been any older than 17, pull up to the home we were going through.  Had there been more people at this house, they would have blended right in with the crowd.  They finished their viewing, got in their shiny black BMW convertible, and drove off.  My question is: why are 17 year old boys even interested in the Parade of Homes?  I shouldn’t judge their motives, but shouldn’t they be playing video games with their friends or something?  I just think it’s way too early for them to be worrying about BMW’s and homes and all that stuff.

Maybe I’m wrong about those boys, but the point is that kids are being raised to believe that big homes, luxury cars, exotic vacations, and the like will surely come their way.  And if they don’t, well then something is wrong.  Our blatant displays of excess are not doing our children any favors.  It’s not that they’re dumb, but at their ages they fail to understand what it takes to achieve the kind of wealth displayed at the Parade of Homes.  Worse still, they don’t understand that a small percentage of families will ever make it to that standard of living.

I’ve rambled, yes, but my thought here is simply that our excesses are a big part of the reason that our youth have twisted ideas about the world and what is normal.  It starts with the parents.  They decide what their kids will be exposed to.  The excesses of others in the media will reach their eyes every day, but if we make it so, kids will look to us for an example instead of to the peddlers of indulgence.

Tags: luxury homes, McMansions, Salt Lake Parade of Homes, books, Strong Fathers Strong Daughters

A Farewell to Arms

I’m going to try to make it a point to write short reviews/recommendations  of the books I read, if only to test my own comprehension.  I tend to forget the easily forgettable.

So while I didn’t like how ‘A Farewell to Arms’ ended, I can’t say it was a forgettable book.  Can anything by Hemingway be forgotten completely?  This was my first ever read of one of his books, and I’ll say that it was somewhere between good and great.

The author’s preface (this was the author of the compilation – not Hemingway), said something about how Ernest Hemingway made American Literature what it is today.  I don’t know enough, nor have I read enough to know exactly what made his style so revolutionary, so you’ll forgive me when I say that that quality of the book went over my head.  That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good – just that I am not familiar enough with styles and times to know the difference between Hemingway and Harper Lee.

If you saw the movie ‘In Love and War’ that came out sometime in the nineties and starred Sandra Bullock and Chris O’Donnell, then you’ve seen the part of Heminway’s life that inspired him to write this book.  It is a novel about love, death, and war in the time of World War I.  I love reading about World Wars and other battles, and I guess there’s also a side of me that likes a good romance, so I was satisfied on both ends with this book.  There’s no in-depth coverage of the war, so those out there who find war facts as boring as dirt will not be forced to endure a battle narrative.  It does provide a good backdrop though.

I won’t give away anything, but I will recommend it.  If anything, just to read one of the most important novels of our time.  I do think you will find a page turner and a worthwhile read.

Oh and if you are interested in buying a good copy of this book along with three other Ernest Heminway classics in one volume, Barnes and Noble sells a very inexpensive series of hardback novel compilations.  They are usually toward the front of the store by the discount books.  It’s nice that they’re sold for such a good price, but it’s also a sad commentary on our reading choices these days.  The trash novels cost twice as much as these four or five in one volumes of hardbound classics.  But that’s another day’s post.

Tags: A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway, classic books, books