Brain Lurking

This is boring!

 People often say, “My mother always said” or “You know what Dad always says". I wonder what my children will carry with them. A few things come to mind: My ridiculous morning wake up song, *obnoxiously loud* “Time to wake up, up, up”, and my response to the their statement, “I’m bored.” *hands on hips* “Well, that means you must be a boring person Surely, you can think of something to do.” That’s it? That’s the legacy of wisdom I have passed down to my offspring?

Needless to say, I hope that there are nuggets of wisdom I have passed on that I just can’t think of right now. Reflecting on my own childhood I dug to see what was lurking in my brain. “Honesty is the best policy.” “Skin the cat.” (This was my mother’s creative way to get us to help take our shirts off. I guess out of context it sounds kind of morbid.) “The healthiest meal has lots of color on the plate.” Ok, that’s a start. Then I started thinking about unspoken messages passed from generation to generation. Grandma Dorothy was always whistling or humming and I find that there is always some kind of music in my head. (It is often some annoying jingle from a commercial or even a Christmas song. Blah) However, it gives me a connection to her, a memory that is etched in my brain forever. We always knew how grandma and grandpa felt about each other. No big physical displays of affection, only glances and subtle touches and a warm safe feeling. But the biggest way we knew were the little things they did for each other. There were little acts of kindness, pulling a chair out, cooking a favorite trout dinner, speaking to each other with gentleness and respect.

What nuggets have you received from important people in your life? Are there any unspoken messages lurking in your head? I would love to hear about them!

Check out my new page entitled “Mom Says” This week is the first in a three part series on what I think are the essential ingredients of a happy life…