Pleasantville...it is the nickname of our subdivision. When I tell people where I live, they roll their eyes and say..."oh, you live in pleasantville".
They say this because our neighborhood is kinda like that. It is normal to wave at passing cars (every passing car...whether you know them or not). It is not unusual for one of my neighbors to roll down their car windows and announce "I'm going to (Target, Kroger, Meijer, insert name of store here) do you need anything?" it is equally commonplace to say "sure, bring me back some milk, bread, or other item". Money is rarely exchanged. Favors fly down the street. Unfortunately for the kids, it is also pretty normal to be corrected, not only by your mom or dad, but your friend's mom or dad, too. On nice evenings it looks like an impromptu block party...neighbors clustered and talking, kids playing across each other's yards.
My older daughter is shocked and horrified by stories from her school friends that they don't really know their neighbors...worse still that they haven't even met their neighbors. She not only knows just about everyone on our street, but she has been in all of their homes...most of the them before we even officially moved into our home...some before we even closed. There are a pack of kids roughly her age that she hangs with. She plays with the younger kids...even the boys. This is her "normal". She accepts the fact that while we were moving in everyone invited her to play...in fact most of them fed her lunch. My neighbors did this without judgement, without calling the department of children and family services and expected nothing in return. It is just what you do when someone needs you. Everyone remembers what it was like to move.
It should be said that we are not living in our dream house. If you ask any of my neighbors....they will say the same thing. They wish they had a three car garage, a bigger yard, a formal dining room, bigger bedrooms for the kids, an extra family room or den downstairs. The list is endless, but no one wants to move. How could we? Instead we will just make do with what we have. We look to each other for interesting ideas to decorate and organize. We dream of renovating or expanding...but moving....I don't think so.
I hope to share stories with you about how you can recreate this atmosphere in your own homes and streets. I don't think that it's that hard and I think it's something that we all need. Either it is the type of environment that we grew up in or wish we had. So I will share my pithy stories, my coupon match ups, craft projects and other random things that pop into my head. I hope you enjoy them.
