Undeniably Suburban: The Moment of Truth

So when did my suburban-ness become undeniable? 

 

As a suburbanite with kids, some things you have to think of when you buy a house - yard, schools, neighborhood, bedrooms, etc. - were starting to become apparently lacking in our former house.  I loved our former house.  It was a wooded half-acre lot with tongue-in-groove ceiling, metal fireplace, and a generally unique design.  Sure, it had TONS of problems and needed lots of work we couldn't afford (but had to do anyway when we sold it), but it had a unique and cool aspect that helped me in my denial.

 

Our house sold in 2 days!  However, house hunting for our third house together proved significantly more difficult than the last two.  Mostly due to my husband eyeing suburban comforts and me refusing to have a cookie cutter house in an ultimate suburban neighborhood.  When my husband starting turning his nose up at every house older than 5 years or without a 3 car garage (seriously!) I quickly learned we were facing homelessness.  Do we get an apartment and continue to look while probably never agreeing on anything, or... do I give up on my personal taste and get an ultimate suburban house that's "great for the kids?"

 

Yep, you guessed it.  See when you're a true suburbanite, house hunting involves one overall concern:

 "a great place to raise kids." 

New neighborhood with lots of kids? (check)

Neighborhood pool? (check)

Close to "award winning schools?" (check)

Not too close to any questionable neighborhoods, businesses, or busy streets? (check)

Nice yard to play in, but not so big it takes too much time to mow? (check)

3 car garage for all your toys and junk? (check)

And if you can get it never-lived-in and able to pick your own finishes (aka "building") all the better.

 

So, since I didn't want to move into temporary housing, we found a home under construction and jumped in to pick our finishes from that point on.  The day we decided to put an offer on this house... I broke down.  I felt like I was betraying everything that I had thought I was.  Chicago was far behind me and I was about to put an offer on a cookie-cutter house with stucco in the ultimate suburban neighborhood.  Was I really this person? 

Enter realization: yes I was... because it was a great place to raise kids. 

I had a small mourning period - mourning the loss of "cool" me and preparing for soccer mom me.  It helped that an urban friend (and former suburbanite) comforted me by calling my spec home a "spec-tacular" home and we were able to avoid a couple of typical Johnson County finishes and add a couple of cool light fixtures.  But at this point I knew it was true.  I was undeniably suburban.