Can We Make A Memory?
Jim and I share our childhood memories a lot. We talk about the food we grew up eating, the Christmas memories we have, and the friends we played with. We talk about the funny things our parents did and how our siblings drove us nuts. Memories are fun. We can recreate our past through stories and share how we slowly became who we are, traditions and all.
One of my favorite stories that Jim tells is how if he would miss the bus, his mom would drive to catch the bus and he would get on the bus versus her just driving him to school. Classic! Or if we are walking outside on a freezing cold day, he will tell me that it was "THIS" cold when he had to carry the water to the horses. Or the ever funny, story of his dad walking in the house exclaiming "there's a member of our family dead in the driveway..." and his mom said "JIMMY?!!!!" As if Jim's dad would just announce this type of information so casually. (It was one of their animals.)
Through every story I learn just a little bit more of why I love Jim so much. I learn about what makes him so patient, so strong and so loving. I realize why he will NEVER choose to work a manual labor job, and quickly understand why him mowing our lawn, is simply NOT an ideal option for him. (Too much manual labor growing up!) We are molded by our families, our experiences and our perceptions of those. Although we all may live in the same house, we all perceive our homes, our memories and our lives differently, but that is what makes each of us, in the same house, unique and who we are.
I always wonder what memories and traditions my children will take away from our house. Will they only remember that they didn't get a smart phone for Christmas, or will they remember that we went to look at Christmas lights this year? Will they look back warmly on decorating the tree? Will Skylar remember going on a last minute run to buy a Christmas tree with Jim, because the lights went out on ours?
I read about all of the lovely traditions so many of my friends have. I read about the endless cookie making, the gingerbread house decorating and the ornament making, and it makes me want to do more. I want to do it all, make it all and incorporate every possible Christmas tradition into the month of December. Cookies, ornaments, houses, lights, trees, shopping, decorating...we have to do it all! Oh, and let's not forget breakfast with Santa and midnight mass on Christmas Eve....ok, I'm exhausted now.
I mean, can any one family do it all? Can we incorporate EVERY tradition, or do we have to discern which ones are the "important" ones? Do we have to find a way to make the decorated sugar cookies AND the Thumbprint cookies, or should it just be ok to buy some for Santa?
I hope that my children look back at their childhood and remember the glowing Christmas tree lights, the pancakes in the morning, stocking hanging on the fireplace and family. I hope they know that Jim and I tried our very best to make Christmas, and every holiday, special and memorable. I hope they enjoy one or two of our traditions enough to pass them down to their children, and each year as they put up their tree, reflect back to their childhood with memories of decorating our tree.
I always ask Skylar if she will like me when she is a teenager and she always replies with a resounding "NO." Jerk.... I always ask her if she thinks I am a good mom (not that I plan on changing anything, I am just curious) and she says "yes." When I ask Cody these same questions he says that I am a good mom, except that I am mean and won't buy him...... (you fill in the endless blank).
I guess I am just curious what their memories will be, before they have to look back on them. I want to know how they feel NOW so maybe I will have some sort of gauge on how they will feel when they look back. I want them to look back fondly, I want them to feel that their NOW is, for the most part, good, and honestly I want to get a read on how I'm doing.
Hopefully, this Christmas, they will remember the Christmas carols we sang in the car while looking at the lights, the Christmas trees we decorated and every other memory we are about to make these next few days. I will remember this Christmas because I almost killed myself falling on the ice at Stony Brook Farms. But hey, we were together, as a family, and I will never forget it! Memories... priceless!
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One of my favorite stories that Jim tells is how if he would miss the bus, his mom would drive to catch the bus and he would get on the bus versus her just driving him to school. Classic! Or if we are walking outside on a freezing cold day, he will tell me that it was "THIS" cold when he had to carry the water to the horses. Or the ever funny, story of his dad walking in the house exclaiming "there's a member of our family dead in the driveway..." and his mom said "JIMMY?!!!!" As if Jim's dad would just announce this type of information so casually. (It was one of their animals.)
Through every story I learn just a little bit more of why I love Jim so much. I learn about what makes him so patient, so strong and so loving. I realize why he will NEVER choose to work a manual labor job, and quickly understand why him mowing our lawn, is simply NOT an ideal option for him. (Too much manual labor growing up!) We are molded by our families, our experiences and our perceptions of those. Although we all may live in the same house, we all perceive our homes, our memories and our lives differently, but that is what makes each of us, in the same house, unique and who we are.
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| Christmas 2008 |
I always wonder what memories and traditions my children will take away from our house. Will they only remember that they didn't get a smart phone for Christmas, or will they remember that we went to look at Christmas lights this year? Will they look back warmly on decorating the tree? Will Skylar remember going on a last minute run to buy a Christmas tree with Jim, because the lights went out on ours?
I read about all of the lovely traditions so many of my friends have. I read about the endless cookie making, the gingerbread house decorating and the ornament making, and it makes me want to do more. I want to do it all, make it all and incorporate every possible Christmas tradition into the month of December. Cookies, ornaments, houses, lights, trees, shopping, decorating...we have to do it all! Oh, and let's not forget breakfast with Santa and midnight mass on Christmas Eve....ok, I'm exhausted now.
I mean, can any one family do it all? Can we incorporate EVERY tradition, or do we have to discern which ones are the "important" ones? Do we have to find a way to make the decorated sugar cookies AND the Thumbprint cookies, or should it just be ok to buy some for Santa?
 |
| Christmas 2009 |
I hope that my children look back at their childhood and remember the glowing Christmas tree lights, the pancakes in the morning, stocking hanging on the fireplace and family. I hope they know that Jim and I tried our very best to make Christmas, and every holiday, special and memorable. I hope they enjoy one or two of our traditions enough to pass them down to their children, and each year as they put up their tree, reflect back to their childhood with memories of decorating our tree.
I always ask Skylar if she will like me when she is a teenager and she always replies with a resounding "NO." Jerk.... I always ask her if she thinks I am a good mom (not that I plan on changing anything, I am just curious) and she says "yes." When I ask Cody these same questions he says that I am a good mom, except that I am mean and won't buy him...... (you fill in the endless blank).
I guess I am just curious what their memories will be, before they have to look back on them. I want to know how they feel NOW so maybe I will have some sort of gauge on how they will feel when they look back. I want them to look back fondly, I want them to feel that their NOW is, for the most part, good, and honestly I want to get a read on how I'm doing.
 |
| Christmas 2007 |
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