I always tell people I'd love to live back in the 50's when actually I mean to say .. I want to simplify my life and make every moment count. I don't want to try and create a memory out of every minute of every day. I do want to be intentional with my words, I want to be present in each day, I want less distractions and more of my family.
Recently we purchased a record player for several reasons but the main reason being simply because we had wanted one for quite a while and after searching for a year for an awesome vintage one, no luck. Jared and I didn't exchange Christmas gifts to each other due to finances, in fact we've never given each other extravagant gifts, or even gifts that cost more than $50 (that's usually our limit). At Christmas we decided that in a few months we'd purchase a record player and that would be our gift to each other. Well, this record player has become part of our family (just as I had hoped). Sitting down together over dinner has always been important to me and it's a very special part of my day that I have always looked forward to and now even more so.
The kids have fallen in love with our record player, the nostalgia of it intrigues them and they are captivated by watching it work, the needle, the platter, the tone arm, the speakers ... all of it. Every night at dinner we let the kids take turns picking which record we will listen to during dinner. I've been purchasing crazy amounts of records at the thrift store for 23cents a piece, can't beat that! Some of the records are old and lightly scratched but play a muffled, worn and warm sound that soothes my heart .. the rusty old records are some of my favorites. I've even been able to scavenge up a couple children's records from local thrift shops and on Etsy.
To see the kids get so excited about choosing a record shows me that my kids don't want the latest and greatest of everything to keep or make them happy, they want more intentional time spent with Jared and I, with us as a family, all together, to encourage them to be happy with relationships and not things. Jared and I have always made sure that each of the kids feels loved and special, we take them on dates and try to do things that we know they enjoy around the house. I never really stopped to think about how important it is for Jared and I, as parents, to create a peaceful environment that everyone in our family can look forward to and share together. Although we were sitting down eating dinner together before the record player, it was always just dinner .. eat dinner, clean up, take a bath, it was part of our routine but now dinner is something that the kids all look forward to, even if we're eating cold cereal for dinner .. it's not about what we eat, it's about the time shared with each other, sitting in our dining room, listening to our record player and allowing the kids to discuss what's on their minds.
For us, simplicity isn't about having all the time in the world, it's about creating time to relax and be intentional in building relationships with our children and allowing them to be open with us.
had I planned on blogging about our record player (which I didn't) I would have posed the kids by it and gotten a clear shot of them with the record player but I feel like these little snap shots show it best .. just how much our kids LOVE our record player, who I'm beginning to think might need a name .. any suggestions??
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