{"id":3674,"date":"2007-01-17T12:39:07","date_gmt":"2007-01-17T16:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=3674"},"modified":"2007-01-17T12:41:29","modified_gmt":"2007-01-17T16:41:29","slug":"the-conversation-in-my-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2007\/01\/the-conversation-in-my-head\/","title":{"rendered":"The Conversation in My Head"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’re being greedy. You’re acting like Madame Blueberry before she gets religion.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since we can afford otherwise, I don’t think there is any reason to raise four kids in a two-bedroom house.<\/p>\n

Whoa! Slow down! First, you only have three kids.<\/em><\/p>\n

But we want another. And it makes no sense to move when pregnant and\/or with a newborn.<\/p>\n

I’ll let that go for now, as long as you realize that you are being a tad bit arrogant about your fertility. You’re no spring chicken anymore, you know. Anyway, second point: are you clear that you can afford otherwise? Do you have six months of savings ?<\/em><\/p>\n

Does the 401(K) count?<\/p>\n

The 401 (K) could be gone in one day if the stock market crashes!<\/em><\/p>\n

What do you want me to do: hide the retirement fund under the mattress? That would be gone in one day if the house burns down.<\/p>\n

Hmph. Third: you do not have a two-bedroom house. You have a three bedroom house. You just can’t use the third bedroom because it is full of books and toys. <\/em><\/p>\n

Look, there’s no point in being miserable and cramped when we can afford a larger house, even if we don’t technically need a bigger house.<\/p>\n

Do the thousands of people who will starve to death today need that money more than you need a bigger house?<\/em><\/p>\n

We pay tithing and then some. We donate to charities. We are generally frugal. Do you remember that I cut my own hair?<\/p>\n

Yeah, but you could do more–especially if you aren’t tied down to a larger mortgage.<\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t you find it the teeniest bit ironic that you are always asking for more while criticizing me for wanting more?<\/p>\n

I’m asking for more on behalf of other people who are dying for want of $1 worth of food–you are asking for tens of thousands of dollars more so your children can have their own bedrooms.<\/em><\/p>\n

Point taken. But I think the small house impacts the spiritual climate: we’re always on top of each other–no doors to close–and hence more arguing. Don’t you think things would be easier if I could send the kids to separate rooms? <\/p>\n

That’s about as tacky as the marketing of religious knick-knacks to Mormons: you’re thinking you can buy spirituality. Learn how to discipline your kids without buying a bigger house.<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s nothing wrong with having a home sufficient for our needs.<\/p>\n

You already have a home sufficient for your needs: what infinitesimal fraction of all the people who have ever lived have enjoyed a solid roof over their heads, indoor plumbing, and air conditioning? <\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not sure we should let neanderthals set the standard for what constitutes adequate housing.<\/p>\n

You are considering a house that’s 3300 square feet . . . <\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, but it doesn’t cost any more than the 2400 square foot house–is it a sin to have a lower price per square foot?<\/p>\n

I’m still not convinced you need 2400 square feet!<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t know of any GAs that live in sod huts. <\/p>\n

You usually hate it when people defend their morality based on what GAs do or don’t do.<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s nothing wrong with having a home that meets the needs of our family!<\/p>\n

You already have that!<\/em><\/p>\n

etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’re being greedy. You’re acting like Madame Blueberry before she gets religion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}