This week’s topic “Ten Things My Parents Did Right” was chosen by Lisa at The Sprog. Stasha is putting me on the spot because I have to say nice things about my parents, since they read this blog!
Ten Things My Parents Did Right
10. Cooking - Once a week each of us kids had to cook a meal for the family. We got to choose whatever we wanted and had complete control of the kitchen. It wasn’t always a good meal, in fact some of “our own recipes” were disgusting, but everyone ate it. I don’t suck at cooking now, it’s their fault.
9. Appropriate Panic - My mom is a backseat driver. Anytime she is in the car with you she constantly gasps, grabs the armrest, and screams “Look Out!” After years of driving with her I learned this is not an appropriate level of panic.
8. Recycling - My parents recycled long before it was cool. My Dad had a whole setup in the garage for his Milwaukee’s Best Light cans complete with a can crusher and bins. I can’t remember him ever actually taking the bins to the recycling plant…but at least he took the first step.
7. Conservation - My Dad was big on not wasting anything. Ever. We had a chart on the refrigerator where he “charged” us for waste. If we left a light on it was a 10 cent charge, left milk in our glass maybe 5 cents and so on. At the end of the week whomever in the family had the least waste (we got to charge them for waste too) got all the money. I don’t do this with my own kids, but I try not to waste much.
6. Chores - We had to do chores around the house and we got an allowance for them. The big kids started doing chores in kindergarten and earned an allowance starting in the 7th grade. It’s good for them and me. They’re gone on a trip with Dallas’ Mom right now – there’s an 95% chance the dog won’t get fed until they come back home.
5. Phone Hatred - It’s a commonly known fact that I hate talking on the phone. I blame my parents. When I was a kid we got three (incoming or outgoing) calls a day. Each call could be no more than 10 minutes, they set a timer. When the timer dinged we got cut off – no questions asked.
4. Dessert Matters - We always had dessert. Usually it was canned fruit, but still it was dessert. I’m a big fan of dessert. I don’t eat it every night, but I would if it didn’t wind up on my arse afterward.
3. Security - When I was a teenager, if I left the house my Dad would yell, “Be careful, it’s a jungle.” Once I asked him what he meant. He said, “It’s a jungle out there, but inside this house, before you walk out that door – you’re always safe.” True story.
2. Parenting - When Taryn and John were little and acted like monsters my Mom told me I should be glad they misbehaved for me because if they only misbehaved when they were with other people I would never believe them, then I’d be one of those parents who thought their kids were perfect. Best advice ever.
1. Humor - We laughed a lot at when I was a kid. We laugh a lot in this house too. It makes me happy to be here.
I LOVE this list! A waste charge? Brilliant! And making the kids cook is just pure genius, teaching a skill and less work for the parents! Did the cook also have to clean the kitchen??
Wonderful list! I love the phone idea. I’m sure that will come in handy someday.
I love a lot about this list, but number 2 IS GREAT. Super funny, sweet, and insightful list. Erin
Good list! Now, number 9 used to be like that but I have mellowed a lot and am easier to ride with now
On number 5, we had plain old plug in phones then and 5 people in the house using them. We also didn’t allow any calls after 9PM!Please remember that on number 2, it doesn’t always work. Some kids who are hell at home as well as outside, have parents who think they are saints. My favorite is number 1….we laughed a lot and still do when we are together. Love the list!
hay !!!!!!!!!!!!!! / the BEAST cans went to the scrap yard and the change went into your college fund / now i bet you whished i drank more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ///
Love your dad’s comments…haha!! But the laughter at your house is one of my favorite memories of my visit!! Love you guys!
I remember the chart for waste on the refrigerator. My kids would have a meltdown and the earth would stop spinning if they had only 10 minutes of phone time. Maybe I should institute that into my master plan to make them into descent, responsible adults. LOL
They were beautiful people. I would have loved them as parents!
Seriously!
Jodi
My Dad had one of those can crushers too! If we crushed the cans and bagged them, we’d get the recycling money. I freak out if I’m somewhere with a can/bottle and can’t find a recycle bin (which luckily isn’t very often anymore).
Ah I love your mom’s parenting advice! Ha ha!
I can remember walking along side the road with my daycare provider and collecting cans and bottles. whatever I collected, I got to keep the money and could buy some chocolate milk when the milkman delivered the milk (yep, that old.) But, the milkman always gave me the chocolate milk for free….so I’d spend the money at the penny candy counter instead. What did I learn?
Rewards in life can be very sweet — but you need to do the work first.
Love the waste idea. My husband comes from a family of wasters — lights on all the time, air conditioning set at 67, heat set at Hell. It took me forever to “train” him. I think I’m going to start charging…
Amen to Appropriate Panic. I’ve actually made my mom ride in the trunk of my SUV because she grabbed the steering wheel while I was driving. Now, I just ban her from the car.
I totally agree with phone hatred. I do not have a cell phone nor do I want one.
Love your list and especially number 1! Laughter in the house helps out a lot!
Appropriate panic and conservation made me giggle. When I finally moved into my own house, I turned every single light on, let the heat run full blast and held the front door open. I called my dad to let him know that i was heating the neighborhood. He laughed and said I better not call when the bill came.
Oh my, your parents sound quite awesome! I love that they put you all in charge of dinners, and the conservation chart? Well, that’s just smart thinking! Dessert…yum. And the security one is just amazing. You were loved
I LURRVED LURRVED this! So funny! I’m going to print it out and take it home today and stick iy on the fridge to see if :
A: My kids take the da*%ed time to read it
B: They learne 1 Da$%ed thing from it
C: They see how great they have it!
Cheers to appropriate levels of panic and dysfunction and to Milwaukee’s Best Light!
(Except for the Milwaukee’s Best Light part. That’s just horrible stuff.)
I have so much to say. I do not, nor have I ever appropriately panicked. Neither does Noah. Hot Joe never panics ever ever. I love the idea of everyone cooking except I like that Hot Joe cooks and I never have to again. When he’s sick we get fast food. Humor – totally. And as for bad kids, when my sister was a teen she and her friends would get into TROUBLE and when Mom would call the other moms they would ask their daughters and then come back. “Well she says she didn’t.” It drove my mom NUTS. Great list.
I always knew your faunny must run in the family. I think I like the waste management plan!
What on Earth is faunny???? I meant funny. OMG!
Dessert is important.
Great list!
Your parents must be cool, look how well you turned out
I love your dad’s conservation plan. Although I read it as conversation the first time and thought “wow, he must have been strict with the talking.” This may or may not be due to the 4 glasses of wine that I have already consumed. Probably.
Your list was awesome and laugh out loud funny all at the same time. So funny, in fact, that I worried that I may wake the small sleeping child in the next room. It sounds like rue parents taught you a lot of important life lessons, like the appropriate level of panic for a backseat driver. Very important stuff to know.
That’s an awesomesauce list. My mum is queen of appropriate panic. She turns it on like a tap.
My parents have a lot of similarities with yours…my mom displays an inappropriate level of panic as well. Although, it took me moving out into the real world to realize she overreacted. :/ They were also conservationists, although it wasn’t for the sake of the environment. I think they were just cheap. We had a cupboard full of gift boxes that used and reused for birthday and holiday gifts. There are still some boxes in that cupboard from when I was a kid. My dad also used to pick up aluminum cans he would find on the ground. It embarrassed me to no end, and that was just a bonus for him. He got the deposit and he got to torture me. Double win!
And by the way….great list! I love the one about laughing.
This is an awesome list of things your parents did right. I learned how to have fun from my dad but somewhere I missed the cooking lesson.