Simple.

I want the simple life. And NO I do not mean Paris Hilton's Simple Life.

Would it be weird to want to live somewhere that I didn't have to worry about the hustle of city life? I live in a suburb -- a really old suburb. But it's close enough to the city that I still feel pulled in every direction to consume. I loathe consumerism. My husband's corporate job makes him feel compelled to have what his coworkers have. We had a "tiny" conversation about it the other day. It went a little like this:

"I don't want you to get mad, but I think you should go back to work."

"I know."

"My coworkers make almost half as much as me and they have so much more. They don't seem like they have to struggle."

"Your coworkers do not have houses or children and most of them are single."

Shouldn't that have been enough said? Well now I feel amazingly like I do nothing to contribute. I feel like I'm making my husband suffer because I stay at home. I stay at home to be with our son. Yes, I get bored. Yes, I complain. But I really do not want to go back to work. I'd be away from my little cutie entirely too much. Who am I to have a child and then leave him under someone else's care? The thought of going back to work is very scary. It's also a little thrilling. Part of me would like it...for an hour. I would love to have that extra $600 a month for bills. But it's only $600. Would it be worth it? I think not.

So the thought of a simple life is much better. Why do we have to have our mortgage? Why do we live in a city that makes us feel as though we have to have everything that everyone else has? But could I be happy in the country with mediocrity? Would I really be happy as a non-consumer?

I really don't think so. I would be bored and bitter.

There really must be a happy medium. There really must be a simple suburbia.

Something like Laura Ingles meets Real Moms of the O.C.