You might expect this post to be about how my husband and I live, what we teach our children, the examples we set, our rules and expectations, and so on. While I might touch a bit on these things in this post, it's really more about my life as a child and the things I learned as I lived it and how it contributed to who I am today (and what my children learn from me).
I am the youngest of five children (with a 20 year span between myself and my oldest sister). My parents have been married more than 50 years and have lived in the same home for over 40 years.
Spending my entire childhood under the same roof and returning for a day visit with my children to that same home is one of the things I lived that has become so important to me as an adult. My parents made that house a home. A home filled with memories and a place we're drawn to return to to make more memories. My husband had never lived in the same place for more than a few years until we got married. It's not something I can comprehend. Every holiday, birthday, first day of school, high school dance, graduation open house, every special memory from childhood was made in that home. I long to make that same type of home for my children. We recently moved into a new home after spending five years at our last address. It's an odd feeling to walk through the empty rooms, to hear the echos, and see the bare walls. This was the first home my husband and I shared. It was where my children made some of the first memories they'll keep with them forever. It was where we brought our babies home to from the hospital. Don't get me wrong. I love the new place we call home and it feels like he right place for us to be but I dream of staying here until my babies are all grown up, maybe until their babies are all grown up.
Prior to my late teens and working an almost full time job after school, I can honestly count on 2 hands the number of times we didn't sit down as a family for dinner at the dinner table in our home or occasionally at a relatives. I remember very few occasions where we "ate out" unless we were on one of a handful of vacations or out of town visits to see family. Dinner was a home cooked meal that rarely included any type of convenience food (dad's a meat, potato, and veggie kind of man). Meals weren't gourmet and didn't include a lot of variety from week to week but that didn't matter to me. What I took away from that part of life is the importance of family, of food bringing people together (often to eat way too much). We eat our meals at home, at the table...breakfast, lunch, and dinner every chance we can. We cook together and plan our meals together. We eat out on occasion but it isn't even a biweekly thing. I'll never forget my daughter sobbing one afternoon when we were running late and we made her eat "fast food" instead of being able to come home and make dinner. Sitting at the table, enjoying a meal together is important to me and it has become so important to them. No matter the rush in life, we try to make the time.
My mother is an extremely creative woman and to this day I do not believe she gives herself enough credit for how talented she is. I can recall endless hours of sitting around the kitchen table doodling with her and often a sibling or two. She taught us the basics of drawing characters, flowers, animals, faces, houses, how to draw a perspective or in 3D. There is no doubt my drawing ability and the foundation for a career in design came from her. Her creative side didn't stop there. In our childhood, Halloween meant dreaming up a unique costume and mom making it rather than going to the store and picking something from the racks. We used things we had and had so much fun. Each year the Halloween box grew and items from years past might be recycled or repurposed. Holidays meant beautiful handmade dresses that we wore for school programs and family get togethers. Birthday cakes were never store bought but were made with love and special details to reflect our personality or age. Our prom and homecoming dresses were handmade. We would watch the Miss America Pageant and see a gown we loved then mom would find a pattern to adapt and just the perfect fabric. Our hair was cut or permed (It was the 80's & early 90's) by mom in the kitchen. There are lots of days that I'll be scrolling Pinterest for ideas and come across things my mom has been doing since I was a little girl. From covering empty boxes with fabric, paper, or wall paper to all the hair braiding techniques to making new clothes from old, and refinishing furniture. It makes me look back and truly appreciate all she taught me by example. All of this is probably the biggest influence on my career path, my creative passion, the things I enjoy doing most with my children and the people I hope they'll grow up to be.
Children live what they learn. These are only a few of the things that molded and shaped me from the child I was to the grown up I've become. What are you teaching your children by the way you live? Who are you molding them to become as an adult. What are you passing on to them that they will learn to pass to their children?
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