I've lived in the country most of my life. I grew up in a small town in southeast Texas; I raised my children outside an even smaller town in east Texas; I now live in a small community outside a small town not far from where I grew up. So I have a lot of experience living in the countryside.

One of the good points about living in the countryside is that your closest neighbors can't usually see what you are doing in your back yard! In the city, there is very little privacy unless you are inside your house with the blinds pulled all the way down and the stereo turned down! In the country, you just about have to get off your property to even SEE the neighbors, and sometimes you can't see even their houses, if you live far enough out! For several years, when my children were little, our nearest neighbors were almost half a mile away! So we had plenty of privacy, and the children could play outside without us having to worry about someone coming up and kidnapping them!

Another good point about living in the country is that you have room to keep animals without having to keep them indoors or penned up all the time. We had chickens, which we did keep inside a fence, and cows, which roamed the pasture. But our dogs lived outdoors and had the run of the place. And the children could go almost anywhere they wanted to go, as long as we knew where they were going and when they planned to be back. Usually, the entire family went, but sometimes just one or two of us might go off down to the pond or up on the other hill.

And in the country you can have a party and not invite the neighbors without hurting someone's feelings. They can do the same, and not invite you. The children can invite friends and have a cook-out without having to get a permit, or anything other than your permission and some food to cook! In the city, or town, you'd probably have to go by the "codes" to do something like that, and if other children were invited, you'd have to have several parents to help watch over the group. And you might not even be allowed to have a campfire in your back yard!

In the country, kids and adults make their own entertainments. In town, they watch television, get on the phone and talk (or text) and ignore their family members, or go to their rooms and "hang out"! In the country, they might go to their rooms, but usually only to go to bed or to read or study. In the country, everyone in the family works to get everything done; in the city, Mom works in the house (unless she also goes out to work), Dad goes to his job, the kids go to school and then somewhere that evening, and everyone eventually ends up somewhere in bed. They don't interact in town like they do in the country. They aren't so much a family as they are a group of people who happen to be tied to each other by being members of the same group.

Country living is relaxing and much less stressful than town or city living. The kids grow up being more responsible adults and more family-oriented. And they grow up with more respect for authority. I've seen families on both sides of the coin, and I'll take country living and country-raised kids any day!

Learn more about this author, Barbara A. Black.
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