Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Taking time to Reminisce

Not often do I find time to relax.  With 3 kids I am on the go most days, and those days are usually filled with power struggles, fighting and pure exhaustion.  But every so often, I have this fabulous day that allows me time to think about the past.  So I am here to reminisce with you.  Feel free to share your special memories too!

It is funny, the things we may remember from our childhood about how we were raised, games we played, friends we had or nicknames we were given.  But it is important that we do remember them, they are a part of who we were and how we developed into the person we are today.

Being the youngest child of a family of 4, I was lucky enough to have a mom who stayed home for me and my sister, while my dad worked.  I remember most of my life, wanting to be a mom, and now that I am, I sometimes wonder what I was thinking (said with a big smile)!  I guess if she wasn't so good at it, I would have wanted to be something else.

I remember as a kid playing shoe store with her, taking a ruler to measure her foot then going in her closet and picking out the perfect shoes.  I also remember playing store with groceries from our cabinets, and bagging those up as well.  Maybe if I wasn't a mom I would be a grocery clerk or shoe saleswoman?  I used to eat lunch on a TV tray in front of the TV, and when I had cereal she would put my milk in a fancy glass server for cream and let me pour my own milk, and when I was old enough to eat lunch at school my mom always put stickers in my lunchbox. (Yes, I had a real lunchbox with a thermos that I would sometime open to find a hotdog.)

I could go on and on about the things I remember, but what makes me smile is the memories I have. 

For as long as I can remember my Grandparents came over every Saturday at 1 o'clock.  My Grandfather used to call me Jefferson Ice, not sure why!  Perhaps to him Jennifer and Jefferson sounded alike.  My mom, grandma and I would go shopping at Dekoven or K-mart (do you remember the blue light specials? where one of the clerks would manually markdown your items?)  Maybe that is where my need for a sale comes from.  When we would get back we would have dinner.  Then the adults would play canasta, while I sang to the records or 8 track playing.  My mom would make coffee and serve a babka from Gladstone Bakery, homemade cinnamon pound cake or a Swedish flop cake from Dominick's (Most times she served all 3).  I used to get to drink coffee and fill in on the game of cards when someone needed to go to the bathroom.  I felt so important, and I got pretty good at the game too!

Just sharing some of my memories has me thinking of so many more, so perhaps, I will be sharing what I remember about each person in my family once a month here on my blog.  I hope my kids will to have great memories of their childhood too! Although, some members of my family are watching us from above, they have not been forgotten.  I am who I am today because of my family and for that I am grateful!

1 comment:

  1. I LOVED this blog!
    Reading how you remember all those little things your mom did for you gave me such a warm feeling.
    It made me realise that some of those little things I do for my children will (hopefully) be remembered and at the very least even if they dont remember the details, they will know they are truly loved.
    Thanks for sharing your memories :) x

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