Makeing memories, Not regrets

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Howdy you all, Just thinking about long long ago, when my mom was alive. As a child I wanted her to play with me. But there was always work to be done. But one hot summer day, she packed a lunch, Peanut butter sandwiches, and cool aid. And she said we were going on a picnic in the woods, and look for four leaf clover's. We had so much fun. I have never forgot it. It's funny what my kids remember,my kids inthere 50's now. They remember the camping trips we went on, and sleeping in a tent. We were always cold, and it seem that it rained every afternoon. And cooking over a camp fire was not the greatest. We slid down slide rock in oak creek canyon, and wore out our bathing suits. Take the time now to make memories, you'll be surprised what the kids will remember. Not all those toys you have bought,

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), May 05, 2002

Answers

You are so right Irene, My fondest memories didn't cost my parents an arm and a leg. We camped, fished, picked wild plums. Now days I take time to enjoy my daughter. We climb trees, kick our shoes off to walk through mud holes. Camp in her (very small) tent in the back yard. She loves walking to our favorite mulberry tree to munch after dinner. She calls this her dessert tree. Now is the time to make those memories, life is soooo short. Best wishes.

-- cowgirlone in ok (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), May 05, 2002.

Time is the greatest gift you can give to anyone, especially children.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), May 05, 2002.


Hi Irene. You are so right. In the same vein, I never save anything for "good." Everything I have gets used and shared. If a friend comes over for a meal we use the nicest stuff I have. Also, if I like something, I buy the best I can afford. I am very frugal in many ways, but I hate junk, or things that clutter up space. I'd rather have one thing really nice, than ten el cheapo. And I'm willing to wait a long time if I have to. Stef. P.S. It's a BEAUTIFUL day in the Northeast. How is it your way.

-- Stef (sbrogers@csonline.net), May 05, 2002.

this morning my husband and his brother took time out of very busy schedules to put up a tire swing for the kids. Not only that, but they then held a "tarzan contest" to see who could make the best Tarzen yell swinging on this thing.

I try to make our chores more fun-we have races to see who can get through first-some chores just don't get done-around here gorgous sunsets and pet toads take priority over sweeping floors.

-- Kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), May 05, 2002.


THANK YOU for the wonderful reminder Irene! ;)

-- heather (h.m.metheny@att.net), May 05, 2002.


You are so right about what kids remember, Irene, and not just when they get older. When my older nephew was real little, maybe 4, we were watching tv when a toy commercial came on. Aaron just lit up when he saw it, and then turned to me and said "Auntie, do you think Auntie Alison would buy that for us? (she is my sister). Reason being that she never spent a lot of time with the kids and felt so guilty about it that she would buy them extravagant gifts to try to make up for her absence. Well, my feelings were a little hurt because, after all, I was supposed to be the favorite aunt, lol. So I asked him why he thought of her and his reply was that "she buys us things". That really tweaked me because I was the one who always took care of the boys and I bought them things all the time, only the things I bought were food, clothes, medical care, haircuts, etc, which I guess don't count for much compared to toys. Fearing that I was losing ground in the auntie competition I asked "What do I do?" Well, Aaron was a really serious kid, and I could see the wheels turning as he gave my question some serious consideration. Finally, he looked up at me and said "Auntie, you do things with us". Well, I was pretty amazed that a 4 year old would make that distinction, and that he would recognize the value of quality time spent together, but he really suprised me. But, then again, I was his best buddy until he turned 3 1/2 and started attending Mother's Day Out at the church. It was only a short time until he had a whole new set of friends that I didn't even know. Man, was I shattered, lol.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), May 05, 2002.

There were eight kids in my family -- and Mom stayed home with us. Dad worked construction, and there was NEVER much money. Dad worked a LOT to make ends meet, and then came home and worked the farm to provide food -- so he didn't have much time to spend on us either.

I have two memories from my childhood which I can remember right down to the smells and tastes and the feel of the breeze on my skin. The first was one late night when Dad woke us all from a sound sleep to go outside. The northern lights were shining, and us kids had NEVER seen anything so beautiful. It must have been one or two in the morning, but Dad wanted to share that with us. We all sat up and Mom made cocoa -- which was a treat in itself. None of us made it to school the next day -- but Dad was up and gone to work before six as always-- if he went to bed at all.

The second memory is of a thunderstorm we had. I was very little -- and very scared. It rained so hard we couldn't see thirty feet out into the yard. Halfway through that storm, Dad arrived home from work -- we didn't see the truck pull in, it was raining so hard -- but I remember seeing my Dad walking through the rain into the house, and wrapping his arms around my mom.

It's not memories of THINGS that you carry into adulthood. It's the memory of love -- or lack of it. If you make sure your kids know how much they are loved, it doesn't matter if they have to play with sticks -- or make their chores into "playtime" -- it's the hug at the end that matters.

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), May 07, 2002.


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