Anyone who knows me well knows I hate shopping! We have had so many rainy days lately that just to get out of the house we decided to go to the mall for an outing, big mistake on our part! We want to teach our kids that "things" won't make them happy but advertisers are not on our side. Every 2 minutes I heard "can we have a treat". Thank you Walmart for your end of the isle treats!! The truth is it is not their fault, everywhere kids look now they are being targeted. I think this is sad, are we supposed to have to live in the woods to teach our children that a treat is not an everyday occurance. So you leave the mall after standing your ground as a responsible parent and listen to your kids cry all the way home, not fair!
I've often asked my grandmother (who was a mother of seven) how she handled shopping, and she always replied "we didn't, shopping was not a family outing". They didn't even have a family car for years. Shopping was a necessity that was only done when groceries were needed. My grandmother the kind of women who got up at 4am to cook a full breakfast for her husband before he went fishing. This was the beginning of what I imagine was a very long day. This was a time when the kids played outside gladly as it meant they didn't have to partake in the daily chores Grammy was faced with in order to make sure supper was on the table and there was clean beds to sleep in at night. All this without the modern day conveniences of washers and dryers and my favourite, the dishwasher. I can't imagine how all of that was possible!
Her boys all slept in one room while the girls shared another, now our kids think it is hard to share a bedroom with a sibling let alone sleeping 2 or 3 to a bed. I always wonder, what has made us so greedy? Why is it so hard to imagine a life where you weren't the center of attention?
We have too much!
There is a family from India who live next door to us here at our new residence. They are a family of three, she is due to have a baby any day now! Her husbands family came last week to visit, I asked if they would be here until the baby came and she replied " they are staying for six months". Can you imagine a culture where people are that loving, making sure that the new baby and mommy had lots of help and care during this time. This is a family who has never seen processed foods or cable tv. They only care about taking care of each other and helping in any way they can. I have really enjoyed getting to know them, even though the inlaws speak no english, every time my youngest Warrin sees them he runs and hugs the grammy tight! This is the sweetest thing to me:) He can sense her love despite the language barrier.
AMAZING!!
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