Thoughts From Rosebud Lane

I'm a bit under the weather this week, and I am a day behind on Where I Come From. I am catching up today.

Were there any flowers growing in your yard back home? What kind? Were you or your parents good gardeners?

My mom didn't do any gardening, but people in her family must have.

 There was a huge area that had once been a garden plot. In fact, we referred to it as the garden. 

In front of this space along the entire front were pink, white, and red peonies. Along the side that made up the backyard were these really big bushes. I am not sure what they were. I remember calling them snowball flowers. That's what they looked like...big ol' snowballs.

 Along the alleyway the back was bordered with lilac bushes. These were the deep purple, the white, and the light lilac colors. These bushes were HUGE! As kids we climbed in them from one to another. We played house underneath them. Once we were digging holes ...very deep holes we found a piece of Indian pottery. A bowl!

 Along the side of the house (why can't I find the photos?) were Lilies of the Valley, and a grapevine that was attached to the house. 

The front of the house had Lily of the Valley, and Jack in the Pulpit. When your mother tells you NOT to eat the berries of this plant be sure to mind her. If you don't you mouth will feel like it is on fire. I have first had experience with this.

So, even though we didn't do any gardening we were graced with lots of beautiful flowers.

 Did you have chores when you were a kid? What were they? What did you think about having chores? What was your least favorite chore? Is it still?

I did have chores as a kid. When I was younger than 5 it was my job to dust the lower parts of the Venetian blinds, and the rungs of all the chairs. Once a week.

 I didn't mind doing this.  I knew once my mom and I were done with these weekly chores we would sit at the piano. She would play from old song books and we would both sing along. Songs like Clementine, Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Bicycle Built for Two. We would spend hours at it. It is one of my favorite memories

As I grew older I was required to help with dishes. I hated this part. I had to dry and my mom washed. She always finished before me, and I considered this highly unfair! Once my brother became old enough he had to dry and I washed. HA!

Doing dishes is on my hate list right next to spiders and mice.

It was my son's job to do dishes. When he became a junior in high school I told my husband that he had 2 years to figure out how the dishes were going to be done once William went away to college. I was not going to spend the rest of my life doing dishes. A dishwasher so appeared in the kitchen.

I do believe kids should have chores. They need to be age appropriate, but even at a young age they can be given something to do. At age 7 my son had to bring the waste basket from the bathroom and empty into the kitchen trash basket, and he had to keep his room clean. As he grew his responsibilities grew. He was taught how to cook, and to clean a house, and to do laundry.

We went to the laundromat to do laundry. At first his job was to fold the wash clothes and match the socks. Eventually, he was responsible for sorting and putting his own clothes in washers and dryers. And folding and then putting them all away. When he went away to college he called home once with a funny story. He was doing his laundry in the dorm's laundry area and a guy asked him how to do it. So William showed him. Pretty soon others came with questions. Even girls had questions. He started to charge 50 cents for each question. LOL, and enterprising young man. 

Kids need to know how to do household things. If they don't learn at home when or where will they learn? William even had to teach a girlfriend how to use a vacuum cleaner! I taught some basic cooking skills. A child needs to become self sufficient in order to survive on his/her own. As parents it is our job to teach them these necessary jobs. 

As we are teaching them the daily living jobs of cooking, cleaning, and etc we also can't forget to teach them about kindness, compassion, and love.