Thanks JHB, I honestly don'tthink I would mind driving your kids around for the day! Get me outta the house!!

My husband grew up the only child of a widowed german woman. He lost his Dad to Vietnam war. SO he tells the kids about eating pea soup and for breakfast gram crackers with milk. Okay there are worse things (trust me I've heard the stories!) but it's amazinghow different our up bringing was!
Oh yeah, he walked to school, I didn't...too far.. but my school was a little bigger than my husband's CLASS!

nevre knew why my dad HATED blue jeans. I mean for YEARS he wouldn't wear jeans and hated us girls wearing jeans. A couple years ago, the company that Dad ordered his uniform pants from went out of business and at the age of fifty my momand I took him shopping. Come to find out, being the youngest child of 11 his clothes were of course from his older,much bigger brothers. Never fit, hung on him terrible, and dad used (honestly) rope to keep up his pants. He was amazed to see the changes Levis has made and has embrassed his new blue jean wardrobe! Dads...

that coffee is really hitting the spot but I hear fighting...I can't wait for school to start!

My mom and dad grew up during the Depression (they're 78 now) and I always had to hear about how her mother used to take her own clothing and cut it down so my mom would have nice clothes for school.

My father had to quit school in the 8th grade to support him and his mother, so I always heard about how lucky us kids have because at least we could finish high school and go to college.

We also heard the story about having to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways, with newspapers in their shoes, etc. Yes, they did have to walk to school, but it was a small town and the school was only a couple of blocks from their houses.

[ 12-27-2004, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: library mom ]

I remember my dad talking about having to walk to school every day, even through snowstorms, and then we found out the school house was literally around the corner. lol
Now everytime he starts a story with "when I was a kid...." we all jump in with "you had to walk 10 miles thru neck deep snow up a huge hill, both ways" Amazing how our perspective changes as we grow older and wiser.

My mother always said to eat everything on your plates, there are starving kids in Ethiopia who would love that food. No wonder all 5 of her children are plump! I never use that with my son.

On the bright side: Mykidsmom, you now have perfect guilt-laden story to trot out for your kids in the see-what-I-went-thru-for-you-vein.

Speaking of which - what stories do any of you remember receiving as kids or using yourselves? Here's mine.

When we were in elementary school we lived overseas where certain supplies were pretty scarce. Due to a storm, a plane landed and had to get rid of it's perishable supplies. Mom stood in line for 2 hours to buy a quart of cow's milk. Once she brought it home, none of us would drink it because it "tasted funny." (We'd only had powdered milk or goat's milk for long long, we didn't LIKE cow's milk.)

Thirty years later, we STILL periodically hear about our lack of gratitude for that milk!!

Mykidsmom, not that I'd want to share your experience, but my van breaking down might be nice right now. I've taken today off work - with the idea of having some nice, quiet post-holiday time. Hah, I'm a chauffer. All I need is the cap.

Daughter swim practice early morning. Son's soccer clinic late afternoon. Daughter and friend want to go to the mall. Son needs to buy a videogame memory card (store NOT at the mall, of course). Son's swim practice starts at 4:00. Oh-and-by-the-way, the mini-van really needs a car wash.

Stuck at home with no transportation is sounding pretty darn good right now.

But seriously,Mykidsmom, I am sorry you had such a difficult time right before X-Mas and that your husband is sick.