Oct 24, 2011
In Which I Confess My Love for Little House on the Prairie
This past weekend we took the family to central Wisconsin for a few days away. Now that we have a school-aged kiddo, our time away has to coincide with fall breaks and such–still getting used to that.
We left Wednesday night and I drove while everybody slept. I typically do the lion’s share of driving on road trips. I don’t mind it, I can stay awake pretty well, and then I don’t have to be the one turning around every 10 seconds to hand something to a kid in the seat behind me.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful, which was just what we needed. No internet connection, friends. NO INTERNET CONNECTION! (Which I believe is directly responsible for us getting 9+ hours of sleep every night. Glorious!!!)
I found out that Orison’s a kid after my own heart, a true lover of Little House on the Prairie DVDs (which Morrow calls “House on the Fairy”). We watched a good bit of Season 1 together.
Funny about my love for Little House… I thought it was horribly boring as a kid and never watched it. But then after I was married and had Orison, Abraham went back to school full-time (and was working full-time). Needless to say, I had a lot of alone time that year and a half.
Since it was in the days of yore (pre-Netflix and streaming video, dontcha know), I had to busy myself at night with these things called DVDs. A friend of mine owned all the seasons of Little House and convinced me to take the first set.
I had no intention of liking it, but then how can you not shed a tear when the man who can’t speak makes a bell for the church with the help of all the children of Walnut Grove? Or when Pa makes a prosthesis for the girl with the limp? How does that not get you right.there????
Anyway, just thought I’d confess publicly that I’m a Little House junkie. And I’ve turned one of my sons into one, too.
(He’s kind of a sensitive kid, but I have to say both Abraham and I were a little shocked when he started openly weeping and lamenting during Stuart Little when Stuart decided to leave. He also laughed the hardest I’ve ever heard him laugh during the final wrestling scene of Nacho Libre.)
In other news…
-The twins went on their first hayride at the local pumpkin fest thingy.
-We played a lot in the yard because the weather was sublime.
-The kids went crazy in the open cinder block basement at night.
-And did I mention that I slept 9 hours each night?!?!
It was a super good weekend. Hope you all had a good one, too!
Me, too, Molly! In college I used to come home from classes in the mid-afternoon and just plunk down for an hour of LHOP and a cathartic cry before getting up and going about my collegiate life. It was a great stress-reducer!
Yesssss!!!! Glad to know I’m not alone.
Love me some Little House! I read the books until they fell apart and loved the show, too, probably because my of my name and that I never had it fully together, just like Laura Ingalls.
My friend H has the best story about it. His family is Mennonite, and Little House was about the only thing they were allowed to watch on TV, which they did as a family every day after school when he was growing up. At the end of every episode, his mother would pronounce the moral, which was the same every day: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” And it’s true! That’s the moral of almost every episode!
lol! hilar!
Yeah for time away + sleep!
When I was a little girl, we took the most *awesome* vacation: three families that we were close with packed up and set out to hit every homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder. My mom read the books out loud to a car full of giggling girls, while the rest of the families caravaned behind us. Seriously epic vacation for an eight year old girl and three of her closest buddies (along with all our families and four campers!).
I LOVE LHOP!!!! i own all 9 seasons and never get tired of them! i have 5 kids who used to tease me and said LHOP was boring, but guess what?! they’re all hooked too!!! :)
so glad you had a relaxing weekend…
patty
You should make a day-trip down to Walnut Grove! It’s not that far, and there’s not much to it, but it’s still fun. There’s a little museum and Nellie’s diner and a (creepy) little motel called the Wilder Inn. :)
i totally remember the girl with the limp. and that stinkin’nelly! how dare she suggest everyone go take a dip in the water?! what a bee.
Seriously. In the bonnet.
Hilarious timing! We watched the “girl with the limp” episode last night!!! And let it be known- my hubby is the bigger fan of the TV series between the two of us! And bless his heart- he read every single book in the entire series to me in our 2nd year of marriage. Very fun and sweet memories of those bedtime stories :) Can’t wait to pass the Little House legacy on to our kids!
I always loved Little House on the Prairie. The books and watching it on tv growing up. Maybe I didn’t think the show was boring when I was younger because I shared a name with Laura (so I also was pretty sure we share our life experiences too). My dream is to go to one of her homes. I don’t know how I grew up in MN with a librarian mother and never made it to any of them!
Orison told me, “I think Laura’s so beautiful. And Mary too. They’re both beautiful.” :)
We haven’t watched it in awhile, but we love Little House too. We have Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. And five years ago for Christmas, a friend of mine made my girls Mary, Laura, and Carrie dresses and pinafores. So stinkin’ cute.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/godsmac/2990645310/in/set-72157600216057119
I loved the books but always thought Pa (Michael Landon) was a little too well coiffed and well groomed in the TV show. In the books he got a clean shirt once a week…
I don’t know if I would say I loved Little House growing up. But I did watch an episode every day after school (reruns were on at 4PM), so I grew up with them. Pa, Ma, Mary and Carrie were part of my natural world. (Which is why I almost didn’t have kids. <a href="http://www.lovewellblog.com/2008/10/connor-part-one.html"Little House depictions of childbirth scared the crapola out of me.)
(Dang. Sorry my code didn’t work. Messy.)
The twins are well into season one. Has Orison watched “Family Quarrel”. Elisabeth was in tears over Harriet and Nells separation. Mature content.
We own all 9 seasons of Little House on the Prairie. They sit on the shelf right next to our complete X-files collection. Yes. It’s a great conversation starter. *grin*
We love L-HOP. It is what we choose for our Friday night movie nights.
I was most definitely a LHOP groupie as a girl. One my favorite Christmas gifts growing up was a real biography of the real Laura, complete with real pictures of all the real LHOP family! I was over the moon…
Have you read The Wilder Life? It’s written by a true groupie herself. Very enjoyable as she recounts visiting all the museums and various tourist sites as well as making her own butter and hay twists. After reading it I re-read all of the novels and happily discovered them to be more charming than I remembered.
I always loved the books and the show! I bet he would love to read the books with you!
The museum is pretty funny.. You should definitely make a trip! My Grandmother worked really hard to name the ‘Laura Ingalls Wilder Highway’.. and she lived in southern Minnesota so we visited often. I think the highway has been extended since, as well.
“and then I don’t have to be the one turning around every 10 seconds to hand something to a kid in the seat behind me”…my thoughts exactly! LOL!
Sooooo glad to know that I’m not alone! I loved them growing up and love them still, ah, Little House! My grandma made me a dress when I was 5 that looked exactly like Laura’s (from Little House) and I would wear my hair in two braids, combined with my buck-teeth, I was the live version of Laura Ingalls. Ah, the good ol’ Little House days…
How am I just now reading this?! We love The Little House too! My 4 year old just discovered the audiobook of Little House in the Big Woods – we LOVE it. We’ve listened to it twice. Thankful for libraries! Oh, and kids who love the stories as much as I do.
Nope. You’re not alone.