Your Parents.....and....

[FarmerChick]

how you were raised?


we have so much difference between location and simple things like how we were raised.

Describe your parents and their life.

Describe your family life.


it will help us all understand each other and wonder just how we got to the SS stage lol

 

[TanksHill]

I'm game.

I am the 12 th out of 13 kids.

My dad left when I was 7.

This led to a very frugal creative lifestyle.

I learned to take care of myself when I was very young. I don't like to rely on others.

My mother is an artist, very creative, fun, an extremely hard worker. She also has a silly sense of humor.

I still talk with her daily about my projects and hobbies. She loves to hear about everything we have going on.

G

 

[abifae]

I was raised in the ShadowLands by the tribes there and by wolves. I crossed over to this here-now and am kind of stuck here and not sure how to get back.

The parents I have here know I'm a changeling but they more or less put up with me.

 

[2dream]

I was born almost 16 years after my only brother. My neices are only 5 and 7 years older than I am. My brother died when I was 15.
My mom wanted me to be a little princess. And tried to spoil me rotten. But I was a Daddy's girl and he never spoiled me. She made me frilly dresses and I stomped through the mud and climbed trees in my lacy dresses. She finally gave upon me after a while and became obsessed with turning my oldest neice into a princess. She totally succeed with her. We were never very close and had very little in common. I hunted, fished, loved the outdoors and simple things like my dad. She was a princess to the very end and I loved her and miss her now. Even though we were not close. My dad died 15 years ago. We were very close and he was actually the piece of fabric that held my small family together. After his death, we all kind of drifted apart. Both my parents (as different as they were from each other) were very hard workers. But, my dad was a saver and my mom was a spender. You can imagine the fights. She wanted "stuff" while daddy was happy as long as he had a roof over his head and a dry place to sleep.
I fall somewhere in the middle of the two. Mom was the dollar store queen because she had very little money to spend, so she spent what she had on junk. I tend to save until I have enough to buy something of quality. Daddy would have just made something out of whatever scavanged pieces he could have found. Example: Mom wanted a new dinning room table, Daddy wanted to know what was wrong with the wobbly legged falling apart table that he picked up at the junk yard and kind of tried to fixed 15 years ago.

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

I was raised by a very young single mother and my grandparents, aunts, uncle... My mom was the oldest of her siblings and she was not old enough to work when I was born, so when I was very young there was not much of an income for a household of 7 people. My grandmother is a seamstress (yet I can't sew anything more than a button or pin cushion! ) and my grandfather, well....he wasn't around much. So, we had to live frugally. By the time I was 12 I wanted to get a job and move out so my mom didn't have to take care of me anymore. Got a job as soon as I turned 16 and from that point forward I was pretty much financially on my own, which was fine with me. I don't like to depend on anyone. I actually had a boyfriend break up with me once because I didn't need him for anything!(Um... OK) I didn't get married until I was 31 and had a really hard time with excepting that what we have is now ours and not always mine or his. I am OK with that now. I actually let hubby take care of me for the most part. I was always environmentally conscious and wanted a greener life, then hubby started getting into SS and so here we are.

 

[moolie]

I'm the oldest of two kids, my brother is two years younger than me.

My Dad and his older brother (4 years older) was raised by pioneering parents who came west in the 1930s and lived for many years on a farm with no electricity (til they moved into town when my Dad was 10). Grandpa was a MacGyver type, jack of all trades, and could build or fix just about anything--and a big teddy bear. Grandma was a tough but stylish lady who took no guff from anyone, who had a fantastic skill set and compassion for others.

My Mom and her parents emigrated to Canada from eastern Europe in the 1940s, her 3 younger sisters were born in Canada. Oma and Opa worked to buy a farm which they worked for many years, then moved into town and built a new house when Opa became ill, he died 2 years later when Mom was 19. Opa worked in a sawmill to supplement the family income and they grew and preserved just about all the food they needed. Oma made her own soap, and used a wringer washer and line for laundry well into the 1990s.

I grew up in several small towns, usually with a garden and a pantry full of good things in jars. Mom stayed home with us kids, Dad worked as an accountant, and we only ever had one car. My brother and I washed and dried the dinner dishes together every evening from the time we each turned 6 (I started drying for my Mom, then took over washing when bro was old enough to dry). When we were small, my Mom sewed most of our clothing--sometimes re-purposing thrift store finds. We learned to bake, then cook, did our own laundry from the age of 13, and both got part-time jobs when we turned 15. Our parents provided us with our needs (2 pairs jeans, 2 sweatshirts, 4 t-shirts, socks & undies, shoes and gym shoes, winter coat, rain coat, winter boots) and any extra clothing or fluff like records (remember those?), books, or other toys we wanted we bought for ourselves with our wages. We walked anywhere we needed to be, including our after-school jobs, and we both saved enough money to put ourselves through university, alongside working 2 jobs (in my case, bro worked every second semester in a co-op program) while we were at school. Neither of us had a car until after graduation, in my case until I got married. I biked everywhere I needed to be during my city university days, supplementing as I could afford to with a monthly transit pass.

Hubs and I met at church while both at university, got married right after graduation, and started our family two years later. I've stayed at home/worked from home since our kids were born other than when I took a receptionist job in 2010 while hubs was out of work for most of the year. Hubs takes transit to work and until 3 years ago we only had one car. At that time we picked up a $950 beater because hub's job location at the time meant an hour and a half commute by transit, but he could drive it in 20 minutes. Our kids have been raised to be responsible for their own belongings, they bake and cook, and started doing their own laundry at age 13 as I did as a kid, and our 15-yo worked part-time this past summer and both will be encouraged to get summer jobs next summer (when 14-yo is 15). Both love to sew, love art and music, and love the outdoors and have a good outdoor survival skill-set. We live pretty frugally and certainly in a much more "old-fashioned" manner than our neighbors.

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

She made me frilly dresses and I stomped through the mud and climbed trees in my lacy dresses.

hahahahaha!!! sounds like me! My grandmother would make all these frilly little dresses and I'd scream and yell that I didn't want to wear them, then I go out and get them all dirty. Didn't like my hair fooled with either, so eventually my mom just had it all cut off. I was OK with that.

 

[AL]

Born and raised right here .... parents going on being married 57 years, definitely did the "better or WORSE" part. Youngest of 3 - my brother is 7yrs older and adopted, sister 3yrs and adopted. My mom was told it was medically impossible for her to have kids. Then 4mths before her 18th wedding anniversary SURPRISE!!

My dad grew up on a farm. over 100 goats, some cattle, big garden. They lived in the northend of our county and he tells some stories about that place back in the day!! (he is almost 78)
My mom grew up sort of in town. Her mom was a teacher and raised Blue Persians. They had chickens and I think that is about it for the "farmy animals". My dad was in the army for a little while and then they settled here. When they bought this property ($17k for 4 acres and the 3br/2b house) it was the only house in sight. Now there is an old neighborhood around us and about 1/4 mile away a very ritzy subdivision. When I had donkeys my little miniature would bray when he heard my dad's truck - so the folks at the ritzy houses would sit out on their front porches to enjoy their "country life" by listening to the donkey.

We had 4 acres and a couple head of cattle. The cows would travel up to my grandfather's house to visit his bull, Jesse. The calves were named "Hamburger" and "Dummy" and such so that we wouldn't get attached. I experienced my first live birth at a young age (5-6 I think?) because I went running into the house telling my mom "Elsie is blowing a bubble out her butt!!!". So I got to watch that calf being born so I'd know what was going on LOL
We went through goats. That is the reason my parents use their "majority vote" on the use of the land to veto dairy goats. I had a big buck named Patches with huge horns. He was friendly, but would escape the pasture and rob my mom's grocery bags (in the day of the paper bag, he'd hook his horns in the bottom as she carried them and rip it out. As she picked up the groceries he ate what he wanted).

Pretty much any animal we wanted as kids we got to experience at least once - rabbits, ferrets, goats, donkeys, turkeys, geese, hamsters, etc. The only thing absolutely forbidden was a pig.

My mom had us in church most every week. It was (is) yes ma'am , no ma'am, yes sir, etc. We had gardens and scuppernong vines, blueberry bushes taller than any adult in the family,pecan trees, pear trees, peach trees, fig trees, a plum tree, persimmon tree, and a satsuma tree. Hurricanes wiped out the scuppernongs, peach, plum and persimmon and over the years have damaged / felled pecan and a pear tree. My mom would can tomatoes, okra, mullet, figs, pears, etc. She made cucumber pickles and pickled okra. I remember the canner and the heat. She offered to help me can now, but I didn't have enough TO can.
We always had dogs and cats. Usually a pony or horse (always a horse since I turned 13) and a couple of cows. We also had 2 steers... Bully and Elmer. Elmer pinned a 4yr old me up against the chicken yard while my mom was gathering eggs. He wasn't attacking, just standing there. My mom told me to hit him and he would go away, but my hands were full of eggs (2-3 lol). He kept standing there and my mom kept saying to hit him, so I finally bashed him between the eyes... with an egg. He just rubbed it up and down my shirt to wipe it off . Elmer became hamburger once he was old enough.
Bully wasn't meant to be butchered. He was some kind of Holstein cross and just a pet. But then he started climbing the fence and getting in the garden. We'd sit down to eat "Bully burgers" and the cows outside would moooo real low. The guilt got to all of us so we gave away a lot of that meat.

There are a LOT of things I sometimes wish I could change about my childhood... but then I wonder who I would be today?

 

[JRmom]

Typical middle class childhood. Oldest of 3 kids. Dad worked, mom was a housewife. We raised and showed Arabs (that is probably a bit un-typical) so we always lived out in the country with some acerage. Always a menagerie of animals (although I was never allowed to have a goat).

My dad grew up on a farm, my mom never even saw a barbed wire fence until she was in her teens. She did can and preserve when I was small. I remember going to u-pick places with her. I only remember having a garden one time when I was a kid. She did cook from scratch though, 3 meals a day until we were teenagers, then we were on our own for breakfast and lunch. I helped with supper every night from a young age.

Because of my dad's career, we moved a LOT. The longest in one school district was 3 years. Guess that's why I'm so planted now. I've lived in the same town now for 30 years (except for a very brief foray to Ohio for my work).

My mother was always very frugal and her pantry was always well stocked, and still is. I could probably eat out of it for a year.

 

[SSDreamin]

I'll try to keep this short but, knowing me, it won't be

Parents divorced when I was 11. Mom was a spendthrift and a compulsive liar. She took older half sister when she left. Eventually skipped town, leaving sister with a babysitter- indefinitely (guess it's no wonder sister is a raging drug addict, on SS-disability & FS) Little brother (heir apparent, eventual drug addict, now in recovery and a great guy, except that he drinks a bit much) and I stayed with Dad, who was a workaholic, distant ex-alcoholic.

Dad married wife #2 when I was 12. 4 step brothers. We lived on an 80 acre farm- 2 holsteins for milk, several beef cattle, a big flock of chickens, a huge garden every year and approx 20 or so acres of hay/40pasture/10 woods/ remainder various usage/house/etc

We had a long list of chores. It would burn up half a page, but everything that had to be done, we three oldest did it (my brother + 2 step brothers were too young for real chores). When hay was ready, we cut, raked, baled, loaded and stacked it. My uncle had a huge commercial orchard, so I (being the only girl, and it being 'womans work') canned a ton of fruit, plus garden extras. I grew very attached to a Hereford steer I bottle fed (Samson), who followed me around like a gazillion pound puppy dog. I went to school and, when I came home, Samson was gone. Brothers pointed out who we were eating at every meal. I developed an eating disorder, before it was 'fashionable' and to this day have a very hard time eating beef. Yeah, I know the rules. But the animals were my buddies, what can I say?

Once a month was grocery day. Step mother and boys would go to town, buy groceries for the following month, then eat at McD's. I was given a list of chores to complete before their return (things like 'wash walls/ceiling in kitchen, scrub all floors, etc.). Yes, my friends used to call me Cinderella

Church was my one and only escape. I was the only one in my family who went, and I went every time their doors were open!

Ran away from home when I was 15, to my Mom, who lived in a big apartment complex in Texas. She quickly realized my skillset, and I was put in charge of all grocery shopping/cooking/cleaning. My sister (who had made her way down to Mom's by then too) was in charge of partying and getting the police/child services called to the house. My nickname changed to Pollyanna.

I expect/expected my own children to do chores, but nothing like was expected of me. I am frequently told I coddle/coddled my boys and didn't/don't teach responsibility. My oldest had his first job at 16, was always employed, moved out on his own at 18 and worked 2 jobs to keep up with his bills. Yeah, totally irresponsible kid

**BTW: Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever been a drug addict. Genetics saved my life, I believe. I am highly allergic to mj (go ahead, ask me how I know ) and have adverse reactions to what my sister refers to as 'the fun stuff' (speed puts me to sleep, etc. I even drink coffee before bed to help me relax & sleep better) I also don't drink more than a six pack/year, although I can't say it was always that way.**

Edited because I can't spell