With this ring I remember..

Do you have a special object that evokes special memories of a special person or a wonderful time in your life?

I love stories. If I didn’t love tell stories I wouldn't be a blogger.

Most often the story behind the object is more valuable to me than the object itself.

My grandparents were immigrants living in Brooklyn N.Y, he was a baker she a stay at home mother of five. The 1920’s were not a very prosperous time for them, but they got by. There were not many luxuries in their home; probably the most valuable of their possessions was her wedding ring/engagement set and yet it was very modest by any means.

One day she lost her engagement ring.  

Popa went to the local jeweler and had him make a ring for Nana. I can imagine that the $25.00 he paid for it was a lot of money back then. Nana loved the sentiment, she loved the ring, it was sweet and beautiful with two hearts back to back but it wasn't her ring.

Did you ever dig in the cushions of the couch of change? My Dad did one day when he was about 12 and came up with something a bit more valuable than a few pennies he was looking for; he found my Nana’s engagement ring. 

She slipped that engagement back in its place on her finger and the heart ring on another finger and wore them both. She in fact wore the engagement ring until her death at 95 but the heart ring had a different fate.

Many older folks give treasured items to their loved in order to see them enjoy them as opposed to leaving them in a will.  She was a wonderful Grandmother who lived with us and was a tremendous part of my life. 

Years later Nana gave that heart ring to Daddy and he immediately passed it to me. I received that ring 38 years ago and have worn it every day. Sadly, Popa died when I was six. I know Nana and Daddy saw my joy when I was given that ring. Now that they've all passed I feel like I wear their hearts all the time glistening on my finger.  

There’s a great place I know about to get a ring or watch or piece of art to start a new memory by adding a new treasure to your family. There are some wonderful items there. Have you ever visited Invaluable Auctions?  Why not visit their website and check out their great selection of rings. 

Do you have a special piece of jewelry with that has a story worth telling? I'd love to hear it!

I like her because....out of the mouths of babes.

In a few days school will start for kids everywhere if they've not started already.
Anyway it got me to thinking about all the cute stories that I remember about my kids and the grand-kids and their school experiences.

I thought in honor of school I'd share an adorable story about my daughters middle son when he was younger.

Let me just set this story up by saying that he is very shy and did not go to take to school with ease in the beginning. To say she was worried about how he'd do in school was an understatement. Moms! We always have one we worry about.

Needless to say she arrives up at school and there he is sitting up in the front of the classroom with a big dimpled smile on his face. He seemed OK, and in fact he was actually more than OK. She did the meet and great with the teacher and then when they got home she spoke to him about his positive attitude of which she was happily surprised.
Now here's the story and I'm paraphrasing here....



"Emmanuel, Mommy was a little surprised to see you up in the front of the classroom."
"I like my seat" he replied.
"You like your teacher then?"
"Yes Mommy she reminds me of Grandma."
"Oh!" "And hows that?"
He then extended his hands near the front of his chest in a motion she didn't understand.
"You know Mommy." he said earnestly smiling at her.
"No I don't know, you have to tell me."
"I like her because she's like Grandma in the breasts!"

my crush

My friend Paula is doing a July Blog Challenge. If you click on the link below the banner that says Paula's Place it will take you to her blog if you'd like to join. If you click here it will take you to the list of daily topics for the month also at her blog..

Paula's Place

TODAY’S TOPIC

Who was my childhood celebrity crush?

Do you remember the movie Sandcastles? I would be surprised if you did. It came out in 1972.  I remember being absolutely crazy about it's male star Jan Michael Vincent. Here's the story....Jenna is a lonely  musician, who meets a stranger Michael played by Jan-Michael Vincent. 

photo credit

Their romantic meetings are on the beach are something of a mystery since everyone she knows tells her he doesn't exist; that he was in fact a criminal and was killed. There are very strong feelings between the two and I remember being completely enamored with this story and him after seeing this movie.

I was 12 at the time.

A-Z 2013 the letter M

My "M" word today is moon.

As a child I remember sitting breathlessly as each and every Apollo mission lifted off to the moon. All seven missions were successful.  Six missions landed on the moon, one only achieved orbit around the moon without landing; all between 1969 and 1972. The moon has always been special to me. It has always carried a bit of a mystique maybe my feelings resulted from growing up in the sixties maybe I'm just a romantic.

And then there was the cow, he jumped over the moon! He was some talented cow! Remember the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle? 

This beautiful glowing orb in the sky is the subject of many songs from every genre (to many to list).  There is Moonshadow (Cat Stevens), Moondance (Van Morrison), Fly Me to the Moon (Frank Sinatra) and then there’s Harvest Moon (Neil Young). I must admit I know the words to every one of these songs!

The (adult) books about the moon are too numerous to mention but let’s just say if you've have children you'll remember Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown) , I Took the moon for a Walk (Carolyn Curtis), Ladder to the Moon (Maya Soetoro-Ng) which are a few lovely storybooks for the little ones about the moon.

There is nothing better than a sunny day in my opinion, maybe going to the beach or even cooking out with one’s family; that to me is a perfect day. 

But when it comes to romance if I had to choose between the sun the moon, I believe the moon wins every time. There is nothing better than a nice moonlight stroll with your honey to set the mood for romance.

And did I mention many nights I have my camera and my honey when I'm outside under the moonlight? Please enjoy the moon as I see it from my house photographed by me; and I added two of my very favorite moon poems for good measure.

The Moon

There’s a new young moon
Riding the hills tonight.
There’s a sprightly young moon
Exploring the clouds.
There's a half-shy young moon
Veiling her face like a virgin
Waiting for a lover-

by Langston Hughes

The Moon is distant from the Sea

The Moon is distant from the Sea –And yet, with Amber Hands –
She leads Him – docile as a Boy –
Along appointed Sands –
He never misses a Degree –
Obedient to Her eye –
He comes just so far – toward the Town –
Just so far – goes away –
Oh, Signor, Thine, the Amber Hand –
And mine – the distant Sea –
Obedient to the least command
Thine eye impose on me 

by Emily Dickinson

Fly me to the moon...opps sorry I'm getting carried away with myself! 

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A-Z 2013 the letter K

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My grandmother lived with us. She was a good and kind person to her family. We, all her 17 grandchildren called her Nana. Nana could always be found in one of two place they were either in front of her Singer sewing machine sewing up a storm or in the living room in her easy chair knitting (which she did when she was younger up until her 70's) then she took up crocheting from then on until her death at 95.

I remembered a conversation I had with my son Matthew the over Easter weekend and I knew exactly what my K word would be.

My "K" word is knitting.

My cousins came up for Easter from Charlotte, my son was here from Richmond and my daughter, son in law and three boys were here from Richmond as well. One of the nights with all six kids sleeping in beds, blow up beds, sofas and sleeper sofas I had to pull out all types of sheets, pillows and blankets including one of the home made afghans Nana made.

Nana & Matthew

The next morning I asked Matthew whether that particular afghan was his or his brother Eric's since Nana made one for every grandchild and great grandchild; he couldn't remember. He told me he'd have to see Eric's and compare to remember which was his.

After company left I was putting the house back in order and as I reached the top step of the staircase I glanced at the bookshelf and my answer was staring back at me in a frame. It was Matthews for sure!

I got my afgan when I was about the same age as Matthew was in this picture. So as you can imagine it is well loved. It was also knitted unlike Matthew's which as you can see was crocheted.

I went upstairs earlier today and gingerly pulled mine out of the bag I store it in. The word threadbare came to mind since it has thinned it has more than a few holes and the lining that Nana so lovingly attached has long since been removed due to wear.

I remember the day she laid all of her yard out on the bed and had me pick my color choices then we rolled and rolled up skeins and skeins of yarn so she could begin her knitting.

Here's my 50 year old knitted afghan.

Knitted by my Nana and loved to tatters by me.

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A-Z 2013 the letter J

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I have a confession to make. I love to watch TV. If I don't have music on then the TV is usually on in the background playing one show or another. 

While I'm confessing I should also say that when TV used to be free (now I'm getting nostalgic) I didn't mind commercials, I rather liked them. Those commercials used to actually be entertaining, family oriented in some instances and actually fun; and above all there was some great music
 if not a bit of a message thrown in for good measure.

You know what I'm talking about right? 

My "J" word is jingles. 
Here are some of the best ever advertising Jingles. 
Sing along with the YouTube videos and enjoy a bit of the past.


I'd like to buy the world a coke (Coca Cola)

Oh I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wiener (Oscar Wiener)1962

Two all beef patties (McDonalds big Mac 1974)

I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us Kid (Toys R Us) 1982

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is... (Alka Seltzer)

A few of these jingles remind me of my younger days. Each and every one of them make me smile. There are so many more really fun and enjoyable ones that I found when I was researching this post. Unfortunately I had to limit how many I added to this post. 

There was one that just made me laugh out loud. Even though I already have an Alka Seltzer video I couldn't help but put this extra one in for giggles. 

Spicy Meatball (alka Seltzer)

Have a favorite childhood commercial jingle? 

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wordless Wednesday- sibling nostalgia

My little brother Gerard celebrated his birthday the other day; he turned 50! Today is my birthday (that would be more than 50). Anyway as old-er people do from time to time ;0 I was  feeling a bit nostalgic so I pulled out some old pictures; here's one of my favorites of us together.  

a glimpse at love 1917 style

With Valentines Day soon upon us I couldn't miss the opportunity to share with you a few treasures of my grandparents courtship during WWI.  

I've been studying the genealogy of my family in recent months and have found many many interesting things about my family.

I dragged my cousin Heather into my little family roots search albeit willingly when she was visiting over the New Year holiday with her family. She later found these postcards  in her mother’s attic while putting away the Christmas decorations.

Heather's grandmother Frances (my godmother) is the eldest daughter of my grandparents Mary and Henri.

If you are at all interested in WWI then you might enjoy seeing these postcards just for their nostalgic or historic value.  Or you might enjoy them simply for their beauty. For me they are my history, a small glimpse of my grandparents courtship in my grandfather’s own hand preserved for almost one hundred years.

This first postcard is considered a "sweetheart postcard."

I have to say, the picture is just outstanding and the colors are amazing!

The romantic in me loves that their courtship survived despite the fact that there was a war going on. The message in the postcard isn't all that romantic. I have to guess that was more the due to the more formal social norms of the early 1900's rather than their affection for each other.Fortunately they did marry two years later and had six children five of them survived and went on to have their own families. 

I am the second born child of their eldest son Henry.

This next post card is the actual announcement that my grandfather's sent to my grandmother letting her know he had arrived back in the US back in 1919.

At the base of the Statue of Liberty it says:

STATUE OF LIBERTY, NEW YORK CITY
Statue of Liberty on Bedloc’s Island in New York Bay, 1 ¼ miles from Battery, a colossal figure of Liberty enlightening the World. It lights the harbor with an electric torch held 306 feet above the water, the highest beacon in the world. Was presented to America by the French nation.

My grandparents rarely told stories about their native countries and they spoke of their families infrequently.They came to this country him from Canada and her from Ireland to become Americans and were grateful for that opportunity. I never did understand why they felt all the rest had to be left behind!! I've often wondered whether it was something deeper or maybe it was just too painful.

Regardless of whether my recollections are indeed accurate or a result of the limits of a child’s understanding or an adult’s imagination. What I've been uncovering in my search including these postcards is an interesting experience rather like peeking at little bits of myself.

Have you ever looked into your family history? What's your experience?

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My angel is back where she belongs...

I've been a busy bee putting up my Christmas decorations and trimming the tree. It takes forever to do the house, if I do a complete decorating job.Somehow I remember doing it in a day years ago not it takes two but that's OK I know I'm not as young as I used to be.  I didn't always have tubs and tubs of Christmas decorations there was a time in the beginning of our marriage when we had one box total. But then there was that little incident with the ex which I'll never forget...

I was a young bride of 22 married five months. Me, Bill and the kids ( his three little ones lived with us) decorated the tree and it looked so nice perched in the corner of our little living room. Saturday morning the ex came to pick up the kids and made a bee line for the tree. I clearly remember her saying to my husband "remember when we got this ornament, I loved this one so much and wasn't this your favorite?" Needless to say they were removed from the tree after that Christmas and we donated them to charity eager to start our own collection of memories.

We purchased two main items that year an angel for the top of the tree and a nativity for under it. Each and every year we added different ornaments that the children made, first Christmas ornaments when Matthew and Eric were born,ornaments that were given to us as gifts, special occasion ornaments all of different sizes and colors. And now 32 years later we have an entire collection of different things many with specific memories attached.

This year we had a problem with the angel, she wouldn't light- the wires burned out. I found myself surprisingly unable to let her go where Bill would have just gotten something new.
Like a member of the family I was used to her presence atop the tree looking down at the kids when they were little playing with their toys and beyond. Now I just couldn't wrap my head  around her not being there to see their kids doing the same thing the prospect was unthinkable to me.

Bill and I discussed it and it was decided we would have to replace her but I secretly hoped to find another similar angel so I could use that ones lights to replace her lights with new ones.  I found a similar style of angel that had the same style lights (yes I did a happy dance!) and was able to use those light in my dear sweet angel.

My girl is back glowing brightly atop my tree hopefully for another 32 or more years!

assessing the damage

If you've followed along on this blog for a while then you know that my parents had a second home at the beach. We were blessed children to have a whole childhood of summers frolicking in the sun and sand with our family and our summer friends every summer. Purchased back in the sixties by my parents and aunt and uncle it is now owned by my mother and aunt since the passing of my dad and uncle. I have written a few little stories about my experiences growing up there you can read about it  here here and here.

I am sorry to say that our beach town Long Beach NY and it's residents and home owners have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Although we The Forbes have moved away our hearts still reside in that town and have never left. Nor have many of my family they are still there.

Here's the news I have so far...

It is grim. I should say that everyone is safe but Long Beach NY and just about every person if not every person is devastated.

dunes and grass before

photo credit: Jen Forbes

dunes and grass after

photo credit Lauren Saccaro

My aunt wrote me, mom and Bill and e-mail to fill us in on the family and on the property damage since her and mom are still partners on the house.

My aunt lives right on the beach in her main residence she has a basement full of water, heater and all contents of basement are lost, no heat, electric or water, house uninhabitable.

Her eldest daughter Gen, has flooded basement plus two feet in her one story house, all is lost, it's the feeling of the family the house will most likely be condemned. My cousin God bless her lost her husband when her twin boys were barely teens (about 12) she has had a difficult life as a single mother and it is just heartbreaking that now all everything is lost to her, even her house. Please pray for her!

photo credit: Frank DiGaudio

This is from what I understand a typical scene in the West end of Long Beach where all of my beach family reside. People are just dumping the contents of their homes on the curb. Do you notice how the sand has filled in the streets swept up from the beach?

One of Gen's twin sons lived with his girlfriend in the downstairs apt. of a house a few blocks west, they lost all of their furniture and possessions. Not only that, they both work for local businesses which have closed due to their own devastation so they are now both unemployed. Prayers for them too please.

The other twin lives in Brooklyn and is ok thank goodness.

My cousin Kate lives in her Dad's (Mickey's) rental property, the basement is flooded and the heater is submerged under water. She has no heat or electric she is unable like the rest to live in her place.

beach after

photo credit:Lauren Saccaro

beach before

photo credit: Jen Forbes

My mom and aunts house is a two story house and my cousin Pat occupies the top floor apt, she was the lucky one all her possessions are untouched by the flooding and sand. The downstairs apartment however was under four feet of water and will eventually have to be gutted and redone. No gas or electric or water the house is unlivable due to those conditions.

Pat's son Dan and his wife and baby  Jax are living in a motel in Connecticut for the time being, they were living in an apt, in the next beach town over and aren't able to move in due to lack of heat or water.

My cousin Mickey and his wife Lorraine's primary residence is quite a distance from the beach so they've taken all of the family-their immediate family into their home. I was chatting with my mom this morning over breakfast and said "even when he was the smallest child he was always a good boy." And I might just add he married a good and decent woman Lorraine has a generous heart.

There is destruction beyond comprehension and the rebuilding will take a very long time. My guess is this will vanish from the news long before even a small part of the work is done. Then there is the healing, the people are experiencing losses beyond our comprehension. Lets not forget them.

 I'll keep you updated as I get news, so for now .....

I'll leave you with the words of my 84 year old aunt Genevieve and I'm just going to paraphrase what she said at the end of her e-mail.

I thank God for my family. I couldn't be luckier of more 

 blessed that we are all safe and  together.They the best people in the world.     

                                                                                         

you're welcome, jerk!

Trying to do the right thing doesn't always turn out as we expect. You know how it turned out for me if you read my post  'when you're the accused'  if you haven't read it click here. Today I've written about an experience I had when I was an adult again trying to do the right thing. 

Read on and see what happens!

The snow was piled knee high outside but that wasn't keeping my daughter from wanting to go on her sleep over. A snow storm the day before had almost caused the girls to cancel their plans but since it was only a three block drive we decided not to cancel.

I carefully drove over the snowy and icy streets and pulled into her friends driveway just as the snow started again. Darn, more snow was the last thing we needed! With her safely deposited in her friends house I got in my car and prepared for my drive home.

Seeing a field of white through my rear view mirror I backed out of the driveway and BANG. Damn! I jumped from my car and what appeared to be a snow drift behind me had a car under it. I brushed away the snow and there was damage, double damn.

I parked and knocked on three doors on that side of the street before I got the right house. The lady told me the car belonged to her tenant in the down stairs apartment. I jotted a note with my number left it and went home to tell Bill what I had done.

It was several hours before he called.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" He yelled at me through the phone.

"Don't you know how to drive?" It took me a few seconds to get over the shock of his meanness before I found my voice enough to say to him.

"You're welcome you jerk, you know I could have just drove away but I froze my ass off trying to find out whose car that was."

"When you get some damn manners you can call me back and we'll talk about arranging to get your car repaired."

Lets just say my husband took care of this one when he did call back.

My brother and his friends all worked at a local body shop so his car was fixed and returned to him within a week without either of our insurance being involved.

 I didn't speak to him again. I doubt anyone would blame me, jerk!

when you're the accused

My walk from school wasn't more than five or six blocks and if I cut through the empty field it was less.

With my decision made I carefully navigated my way through the lumpy grass and dirt field. It was then that I first saw the hair brush laying in the grass but didn't think much of it and continued my walk home.

It didn't walk much further when I then saw a comb and then a pencil case.

Curious I kept in the direction of the opening in the fence when I spied the key ring and a small leather wallet.  The i.d said it belonged to Laura Smith (not her real name). Next to it was a pink address book half opened  and a few bottles of nail polish and some make-up.

Then it all came together in my mind;  I recalled a rumor I had hear earlier in the day of a purse being stolen in the second floor girls bathroom. I looked around for anything else that might have been discarded in the field gathering them up as I found them and headed back to school.

I knew Laura only to say hello to but could only imagine how upset she was that her things had been stolen. Getting at least some of them back would be some relief I thought to myself as I traced my footsteps back to school.

I entered the principles office feeling a bit of pride in choosing to do the right thing. I know others would have just walked by and not gotten involved but that wasn't me. Mr Ryan (changed name) seemed pleased and called over the intercom to have her report to the office a.s.a.p. to identify and claim her items.

Laura entered the principles office and it was apparent she had been crying. I could see that moment of recognition flicker in her eyes when she saw her things on the principles desk.

She looked at me standing there looked at her stuff and apparently made the leap not that I had returned her stolen items but that I had stolen them and immediately started screaming at me!

My heart sank and I felt sick to my stomach! A deep feeling of regret came over me like in a big wave. Had I really done the right thing?  She was accusing me!

I looked at the Mr Ryan, he was a bit shocked. He quickly sprung into action explaining the facts. It took a few tissues and more than a few minutes but eventually he did get it sorted out.

She then apologized and thanked me.

I was understanding but I will never forget the experience.

It was the most horrible feeling hearing that accusation flung at me.

I was a teenager when this happened but as an adult I remember how very painful it was.

Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do? 

wordy wednesday

This tea set has been passed from my grandmother to my mother's older sister Winifred and then to me. Like most with family treasures I was curious to know its origins. I had after all coveted it since first spying it in my Nana's curio as a young child.

Mom told me the local theaters back in the 1940's for the price of a movie ticket would  give you a chance to win pieces of china and that's how we got our set. She lived in NYC.

When I asked her the name of the theater...

She said,  "it was the Scratch House - the Scratchy Theater.

"That's the name of the theater?" I asked.

"Oh that's not the real name that I don't remember" she said.

"You called it that because?" I asked curios as ever.

"Well every time we'd go there we'd scratch ourselves, it always felt as if there were bugs in there!"

My mother is too funny!

I told Mom we could always Google the name of the theater.

In the end we decided to scratch that idea :)

mish MASH

When I was a kid we didn't watch a lot of TV. My brothers and I were outside kids, playing sports and hanging out with our friends. But after dinner and homework we did fit a show or two in before bed time. And back in the day (I'm dating myself here) there were some shows that in my opinion were real  family shows worth watching.

Oh how I miss the traditional variety show, do you remember them? Many a night we sat in the living room with my Nana and parents and watched Rowan and Martins Laugh In, Sonny and Cher Show, The Flip Wilson Show, The Smothers Brothers and of course the Ed Sullivan Show.

Who can forget Artie Johnson saying "veeery interesting but shtupid " as he poked his head out of the bushes, and Sonny and Cher singing and doing those corny skits. I think Geraldine might have been the first time I ever saw a man look good in a dress but somehow Flip Wilson pulled it off.  And how cute were those Smothers brothers? Do you remember how much they hated Nixon? I do believe it was during that time I had my first crush; it was a rodent and his name was Topogigio. I remember my Nana would be extra happy when and episode of Ed Sullivan had that cute mouse.

So why am I taking this walk down memory lane? Well I'll tell ya,  Bill, Matthew and I went down to the Ashville NC area to meet up with some cousins to attend a concert at a the Pisgah Beer Brewery. The bands were amazing but I'll write about that in another post. We stayed at a really nice place called the Monte Vista Hotel. It was a really laid back restored older building that really had more of a B&B or and Inn vibe, very nice place.

Mike Altman
Mash
song writer (lyrics)

When we were checking out Sunday there was a man playing the piano in the lobby which was a warm and cozy area filled with sofa's and art pieces placed in front of huge windows and a huge stone porch. I couldn't help but say aloud "I know that song!" Clearly it was the theme song from one of my all time favorite TV shows when I was growing up, MASH . The piano player looked up and said casually do you know the lyrics? Quickly my cousins and I tried to string together the chores for that familiar tune.

I'm not sure if you're a MASH fan but Robert Altman was the director and he was a very famous director who was nominated seven time for Academy Awards. As it turns out his son Mike Altman was only 14 at the time wrote the lyrics for MASH theme song back in 1970 (Suicide Is Painless). And here he was playing around on the piano in the lobby of our hotel. (he was also a guest ) So I snapped this picture with his permission. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics? Pretty heavy stuff that MASH theme was.

I thought about Mr Altman and MASH during my five hour drive home I came to the conclusion that so much of the stuff on TV today is crap; pardon my French. I can't think of many shows that I really like truth be told. I envy what his experience must have been being connected to such a television icon. I have never met a person who didn't like this show...

Today's shows don't seem to contain the quality of the older shows which seemed to always contain thoughtful life lessons  big and small . And in doing so they were always able to entertain us at the same time. And who can forget those snappy tunes that started our favorite regular shows.  Really folks, there's nothing like those old theme songs, like Hogans Hero's and Andy Griffith Show to name a few other popular tunes like the MASH tune.

As I become older I've become more nostalgic for the memories of my childhood and I can connect happily to some of these shows and music. Do you have favorite TV show when you were a kid growing up?

What show was it and did it have a theme song?

order in the family & the home

Keeping order in family is hard to do, believe me I know. I raised five kids- three of which were step children. To be a family I think you have to act like a family, do things as a family unit and one of those things is to be responsible for the space in which you live. How you ask? Chores! Yup you heard me right we made the kids do chores, age appropriate chores, this is something my husband and I were firm believers in.

Did you have chores assigned to you when you were a kid? My Mom and Dad asked me to do things when they needed doing and I was responsible for keeping my room clean but I don't remember having a regular schedule of chores. I remember doing my own laundry from a pretty young age, and we had a huge house with a big yard. We were always doing some type of gardening or bagging leaves. But all and all we- my brothers and I just did what we were told when we were told, you didn't question you just did.

We made our kids do chores, keeping their room tidy, dishes, mowing the grass (we have a riding mower). Then as they got older they helped with other things,firewood, weeding, planting the garden, vacuuming, and laundry. That's not to say they were happy about any of this because they weren't; well... sometimes they were happy to help! Sometimes it was like pulling teeth.

My daughter cracks me up when it comes to this subject; she and her hubby work full time. To deal with this  she has a list of chores that the boys have to do every week; vacuuming, tidying up their rooms- their bathroom, putting away their laundry, that kind of stuff. I asked her if she had to keep after them like I did her when she was younger. She replied," the kids get an allowance if they don't do their chores they don't get their allowance that means no spending money." "You don't yell at them or anything?" Thinking back to the knock out drag outs we used to have over dish washing and bathroom cleaning. She just shrugged and replied, "I'm not riding my kids like Seabisquit a trip or two to the store without money and they get the idea!" Problem solved for her, but then my grandsons are little angels, just sayin!

Yesterday Bill and I set off to do a few things on our list of many that need to be done around the house. Might as well get some stuff done while we're stuck in the house in this cold weather, right? I cleaned the oven. It has a cleaning cycle which takes 3 hours and leave ashes that need to be wiped out afterwards. Then we defrosted- cleaned and organized all the food in our chest freezer out in our breezeway and closed down our extra refrigerator which stands right next to it. We only use that over the summer months for beer and extra food since we usually have lots of company.

As hubby and I meet ourselves coming and going bringing order to this house and a huge piece of property without the help of the children I started to think.....  I never really gave much thought to how all those things got done after I left my parents house. But I can guarantee like us the did it with a good bit of effort!

How do you do it?

I am so inspired by my friend Melissa over at mamemusings whose word of the month is ORDER or click on this button to find out how you can join in and be inspired too.