Friday, March 27, 2009

My Grandparents

Growing up as a child, my father's parents lived in Mississippi. So, needless to say, we did not travel a lot to see them. Daddy Dewey (my grandfather, Dewey Howard) died when I was young, so I don't have many memories of him. Mother Howard (my grandmother, Dolly Howard) used to come and stay some with us or my Aunt once in awhile. I can remember her biscuits and red eyed gravy! They always had fresh vegetables from their garden, so food was plentiful and good. But, after my mother and father split up, we really lost touch with her as well. She has since passed away.

My mother's parents were already divorced when I was young. My grandfather, Porter Barnard, owned a fish camp called Porter's Fish Camp, in Fernandina Beach and was remarried. The times that we did visit him were slim as his wife, Dora, did not get along with our family. My grandmother, Georgia Herring, lived in Jacksonville. She had a 2 story house but only lived in part of the upstairs. The other rooms and apartments were rented out to borders. We visited Jacksonville a lot and even lived there for awhile after my parents split up. She often drove to Orlando, bringing some of her borders, to see us. She was truly my closest grandparent. She took me to Macy's when I was around 10 or 11 and bought me a canopy bedroom set. She told me to pick out whatever bedspread and canopy cover that I wanted. Another time, she bought me a fancy new bicycle, it was a brand new type that had high handlebars and a psychedelic banana seat. (now I am telling my age) For me, those two instances stick out in my mind. We were a poor family as we were growing up, not destitute, but did not have any extravagances. My grandmother was not rich but always wanted to give what she could. Each trip that she made to Orlando, her trunk was full of items that she purchased at Goodwill and she would open it up and pull out anything that she thought you could use. Most of the time, I would take the items and thank her and give them away after she left. It made her feel special and I never wanted to hurt her feelings. She always gave me grandmotherly advice and I am sure that you will hear more stories about her later.

As I look back on the memories of my grandparent's, I realize how much I want it to be different for me and my grandchildren. I want to be involved in their everyday lives. I don't want to just be around on the holidays. My mother was a "great" grandmother to both of my boys and was always around for them and me. I will talk more about her later.

I think that the extended family is so important for children growing up and now days it seems that people are getting away from that. Times are changing! But, with the economy, I think that you will see more and more families pulling together to make ends meat! I always say that things happen for a reason and you have to look for the good in everything. Well, with the bad economy, families are becoming closer. That's not a bad thing!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Two important items on raising our children.

There were a couple of things that we felt strong about when it came to raising our children. The number one thing was to always eat dinner as a family. We sat down together at the dining room table to eat and talk about things going on in our lives. Sure, there were times when we would be busy and grab dinner at the ball field or run through the McDonald's drive thru. But, for the most part, it was family time.

The second thing that we did whenever we could was to have our children's friends over to our house to play and swim in the pool. Sure, it would give you peace and quiet if you let them be the ones to run off to play. But, I always felt like that gave us control to know what they were doing. And most importantly, who they were playing with.

My mother always used to say that we were to strict on our kids. And she would often do things to spoil them. Some of those things I didn't even know about until later on in life. For instance, Michael (our oldest) decided to "moon" the school bus after being let out at the bus stop. Needless to say, he was suspended from the school bus for a week. I was so angry that I told him that he would have to walk to and from school every day for that week. I was proud that I stuck to my word and made him do it. Well, later on I found out that Grandma picked him up every day and drove him to and from school. After all, she couldn't let her baby walk all that way! I am sure that in her eyes if someone on the bus caused him to moon them, they must have deserved it! Ahh, it is nice to be a Grandma.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Becoming Parents

When we became parents, it was an exciting chapter in our lives. We vowed to stick together on parenting and even if we disagreed on how to do it, we would never let the boys see us argue about it. Many times there were "discussions" behind closed doors, but, all in all we did what was best for our children.

Our boys did not really play mother against father. Yes, once in awhile they would give me a look when they were told no by daddy and I would talk to him and he would change his mind. But, that did not happen often. I was never a mother that said; "Wait till your father gets home!" In fact, my oldest son, Michael says that I was a "mad woman" when he was growing up. (I'll tell you about some of those stories later) Our youngest son, Mitch saw his brother get into lots of trouble and knew what to do to stay out of it!

In this blog, I plan to share photos and stories about my grandchildren and also reflect back on the days of raising our children. Hopefully, it will provide some good memories for my family and also make some memories for my grandchildren.

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Wife, Mother & Mimi....I am a wife, proud mother of two wonderful men and Mimi to three beautiful granddaughters and one handsome grandson who amaze me with their ability to make me laugh!

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