"The
house was a comfortable house.
"Upstairs there was a large attic,
pleasant to play in when the rain drummed on the roof.
"Downstairs was
the small bedroom, and the big room.
"The bedroom had a window that
closed with a wooden shutter.
"The big room had two windows with glass in
the panes, and it had two doors, a front door and a back door.
"All around the house was a crooked rail fence, to keep the bears and wolves away."
At this point
in her young life, little Laura Ingalls knew nothing of the world but
her family and their little house in the big woods.
And yet, when she
writes of it as an adult, she clearly felt that it met all her needs,
and provided her a warm, safe and loving "nest."
For this reason, I love
to consider the principles that guided Pa and Ma Ingalls in setting up
their homes:
- Does my "little house" have a place to play?
- Does it have a big room where the family can be together?
- Does it have a fence to keep the bears and the wolves away?
Now,
more than ever, being in touch with the simple values upon which we
build a home and family life will help us meet the needs of our children
and establish a culture a freedom, education, service and
self-reliance.
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