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.

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.