Black and White TV’s

When I was growing we had a coloured TV. It was in the corner of our living room next to the fire place. In the family room we had a couch that was along the wall and faced our large picture window.  Next to window was my father’s chair. Our living room was not fancy by any means but it served us all well. We did not have cable or satellite TV; we had a rotary antenna the remote control was us, the kids... we also had a portable black and white TV that on occasion I would sneak into my room late at night to watch. I would watch The Honeymooners and Archie Bunker. 

After church on Sunday I couldn’t wait to get home so that I could enjoy Laurel and Hardy with my dad. He would sit in his chair and I would sit at his feet on the floor. Mom was usually making a huge Sunday breakfast while dad and I watched our show. My favourite of all time was the Shirley Temple movies that would play once dad and I were done our show.  I was usually permitted to sit in his chair while I watched the little girl of my dreams on TV.  I wished I could be her. Although her life in the movies was always somehow disadvantaged; she had talent! That little girl inspired me. 

Before I started school I had blonde curly hair, in fact it was so curly that you could not brush it. I recall bouncing up and down as often as I could just to feel the impact of the curls hitting my face. When my dad would leave for work I would always make sure I was up early so that I could say goodbye. The truth is he would like clockwork bend down to kiss me good bye, he would place his hand on the top of my curls and say “ you better work hard today, my little Shirley”, God I loved him.  I remember thinking that I had to work hard at being Shirley, and I would all day long. Dance and sing as hard as I could.  I had pennies taped to the bottom of my shoes and I would for hours on end “tap dance” in the laundry room on the cement tiles. In a 2 foot by 2 foot space I would slam my little feet and sing until one day even my dad could not take it. He picked me up and ripped the pennies off the bottom of my shoes... lol.

As I got older I still enjoyed the black and white shows and more so now as an adult. The movies and actors I adore are not from this time period at all. I like the 40’s and the 50’s very much. Women and men were so glamourous; and life seemed simpler. I like the fact that women stayed home with their children and wore aprons and all that stuff women seem so dead against now. I think the simpler our lives are the better. Back then everyone had their place; the expectations were clear, the rules and procedures of life were set out and easy to follow. Before you get upset I know there were social expectations of women that were unfair and I recognize the repression  that women faced but overall I would give anything to go back and live in that period.

I always refer to “black and white TV days”, especially when I have “life” conversations with my daughters. I encourage each of them to have careers and to have independence, but I also encourage them to strike a balance as a woman. I am a very traditional woman, despite what some of you who know me might think. I am the woman in the house. That is my place. I have created that role and feel comfortable in it. I rise with my husband every morning and start my own day by preparing his clothing for work. I brew coffee, make breakfast and prepare lunches. I serve breakfast to my children before school and force them to take the homemade lunches I make. I bake almost every day. I make their beds and do their laundry. By 9 am my house is clean and I am ready to start thinking about what I will prepare for my dinner. Dinner is mandatory in my home; I insist we eat together regardless of what time in the night that happens. If even for 5 minutes that we are all together for dinner it makes a difference. The sharing that happens between us all about our day helps each of us understand one another a little better. Especially now considering everyone in this house is an adult . For the record even when I was working full time my routine was the same.   

My girls do not have chores, in fact I insist on doing every detail in the house. I figure one day they will move out and have to do all of this in the own home for the rest of their lives. Quite honestly I enjoy every aspect of being a woman /mom in life. Being a stay at home when they were preschool aged was incredible, but certainly more meaningful when they were teenagers. Each day when they arrive home from University, College and as a senior in high school the first thing they do is come to the kitchen to see what I have baked. If I am not home when they arrive I get a text message right away “mom where are you, when will you be back?” I know they love me and love what I do for them. That is what being a mom all is about for me.

A few months ago I started wearing vintage aprons while baking and washing dishes. I never realized how helpful they turned out to be. So I wear one all the time. My children laugh and make fun of me, but the interesting thing is one day they had several of their friends over and the friends were surprised by me wearing an apron as they had never seen one before. That literally blew me away! Seriously it was part of a woman’s attire in all the shows I grew up watching, even my mother wore one. Things have changed so much..... 

It is the same with respect to the way we all live our lives, more hours at work. Dual income earners to pay the mortgage of the bigger house, of the nicer cars, the toys the , the, the, the, ya....... a modest home, one vehicle, enough groceries, very little debt, a one week vacation with the family every summer seems reasonable to me. The unfortunate thing is living that today is unrealistic. Our kids are involved in eighteen thousand things and expect everything that industry today offers. Keeping up with the Jones’ is their reality. Having an expensive brand label or logo is a must to just be “normal”, so off to work we go to not just put the essentials in our homes but to feather the bed of our children so they fit in. I laugh at the parents who cater to all of that and I wonder how many of these kids who have it all will even come close to living the same way as their parents. I know I am getting off topic... but somehow it all is all connected, at least in my own thoughts and frustrations of how we all live today.

It was so much simpler back then! Most days while home I have my music blasting in the house while I write, clean or whatever I find myself doing. The music is usually of Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald, or old soul music. I find so much comfort in listening to this genre. I fit in. Pencil skirt, white blouse and my pearls, not to mention my garters....

~Christine~