Parent vs Child

Lately, I have been making mental notes of random things about my childhood that I now find humorous as a parent. This post is an opportunity to purge my brain.

- My mom's purse was always off limits. We would sneak into it to grab a piece of gum (or half of one turned around so the torn side was shoved down in the pack in case she was counting). Now, I have found my children rummaging through my own purse, and I cannot resist the urge to tell them to get out, knowing that all they are likely looking for is gum.

- My Dad would make us fetch beers for him as he read the newspaper and ate popcorn at night. We did it without hesitation. If he was in a particularly good mood, we'd get the first sip. When I ask my kids to do the same, I get hesitation. They don't get sips.

- If we were too busy as pre-teens or teens, when we would ask to do something a few nights in a row, Dad would say "No." Why? "Because you just did something last night." Audrey is a social butterfly and literally seems to have something going on or some place to be every stinkin' night. It is tempting to tell her no as my Dad did, out of principle, but I can just have another one of the kids fetch my beer for me.

- My Mom would crash, and I mean CRASH, on the couch after dinner. Snoring and all. I could not imagine back then how she could be so tired, but now... now... I get it. Because once I am down, I am down for the count.

- Somehow, my Mom would convince us that brushing her hair or rubbing her back was some sort of honor. Seems like we pampered her with these activities multiple times a week while we gathered around the TV watching Three's Company or Wonder Woman. Audrey never caught on to how cool it was to brush my hair or rub my back... but my boys think it is pretty awesome.

- Next, let's talk about laundry. In our house, when all of the laundry is done, a couple of us will carry it up, and usually, me or Audrey will put it away. She does it mostly while rolling her eyes. This is what I recall about laundry back in the day... piles and piles of laundry sorted on the floor of the laundry room. Mom would call out to one of us to go get all of the hangers. Hours would go by and finally, the laundry would make its way upstairs, where the hanging clothes would be put in the 'storage closet' which was a long, walk in closet for miscellaneous crap in my parents' bedroom. The baskets of clothes would be left on the floor of same bedroom. When we needed the clean laundry, we would take out one piece at a time, instead of grabbing it all at once. And, eventually, someone would sort what was left, days later, and put it in the respective bedrooms. Why didn't we just have to put it way immediately, I wonder? From laundry room on first floor to closet on second floor to individual closets... if someone got around to it.

- Audrey spends most of her time at home in her bedroom. My brother and I would spend hours doing the same listening to 104.7 on my most awesome stereo while 'studying' or doing homework. Now I know why my Dad would yell up and say, "Come be with the family!" when he really just wanted us to be where we could see him. And that was before cell phones and ipods.

- We ate together as a family every night. After dinner, my Dad, without fail, would say, "Girls, help your mother with dishes." Ugh. That irks me to this day. However, I will admit I never had to take the trash to the alley or mow the lawn. Boys' jobs, you know. Now, I love telling Audrey to clear the dishes after we eat dinner. Makes me giggle.

- It was like a field trip when we would get to take stuff to the dump with Dad. Yes, the dump. Or, the construction office where he worked. With blueprints laying around everywhere, in my mind, my Dad was an architect. In fact, I may have told friends that growing up. So, when my kids tell their friends that I am a doctor (since I work in a medical office, you can see how they would easily get confused), I don't say a word.

- When I hear Ian singing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", I recall when I was singing "Cocaine" in the station wagon on the way to Niagra Falls, and asking my older sister (by 9 years) what 'cocaine' was. She told me it was 'just a name'... heehee...

I could go on and on... but it's American Idol time!