Hi! Yes, I am still alive here, I'm just busily working on a new blog that will be set to launch in the next month or 2. I am still checking out/commenting on my favourite blogs daily in the meantime. That being said, today I will take a break from working on my new blog and participate in the "Ten Things About Me" posted over at Canadian Home. I will keep with the childhood theme so here we go!
1) My parents are both from New Brunswick and came to live in Ontario after they got married (apparently they moved for work). I was born and raised in Ontario and don't know my extended family very well. We have taken a few trips out East when I was younger (some visits were for funerals) and my parents have cut off most contacts with my Dad's side of the family after his mother died. This summer we (myself, kids and husband) are going to visit my mother's side for a week. I am looking forward to connecting with the extended family I longed for as a child and hopefully learn about them and my family's history.
2) Both my parents worked full-time and I was shuffled from babysitter to babysitter as a kid and eventually was left to watch over my brother (who is 7 years younger than I). It was pounded in my head that I would grow up and be a working woman too and do the same thing to my children. I hated all my babysitters and hated the responsibility of being a mother-type to my brother. I did work for many years climbing the corporate ladder faster than most and shocked everyone when I quit to stay home with my youngest child (I was up for a management promotion). Initially, I quit because it would have cost more for childcare, gas, etc. if I continued to work but I soon remembered the feelings I had as a child with working parents and now I'm proud to be a stay-at-home mother and raise my kids.
3) I learned what sex was when I was 4. I had a friend who was a few years older than me and she demonstrated with her Barbie Dolls. I asked her how she knew that and she told me she asked her mom where babies come from. Later that day her mom was driving us somewhere and my friend asked her mom about sex in my presence. Her mom asked me if I knew what sex was and I said yes (I thought I knew because of the Barbies) and her mother was very explicit about the body parts and where they go. I was quite shocked and confused. I came home and asked my mom where babies come from and she told me that God put babies in mommy's tummies and then quickly changed the subject. I knew at the time she lied to me (or withheld the whole truth) and I remember feeling very hurt by that. To this day my mom or dad has never had the "Sex" talk with me.
4) Even though we never had the "Sex" talk my mother scared the crap out of me by telling me what periods were when I was 9. She rambled on for which seemed like an hour but all I got from it was I was going to see blood "down there". For 3 years I was petrified of getting my period until it finally happened at age 12. Thanks Mom.
5) I got grounded for a week once for saying the word "Bastard" which I really had no idea that it was a swear word. My dad and I were playing Nintendo and every time he died he would say "Bastard". I happened to be playing, died and yelled "Bastard" when my mom was putting away laundry in the same room and she immediately freaked out and grounded me. I told her I didn't know it was a swear word but she didn't believe me. Thanks Dad.
6) The person I most idolized growing up was my next door neighbour. She was a great mother of 2 who treated me like a person not just another "teenager". I felt more comfortable talking to her than my own mother. I was always super skinny growing up and a late bloomer and as a young teenage girl this was hard. She told me that by the time I was a senior in high school all the other girls would be fat and I would look great. She was pretty dead on about that.
7) I smoked cigarettes from ages 12-22. I quit when I was pregnant with my son and picked it up again shortly after my daughter was born. I've been in the cycle of quitting and starting ever since. Right now I am down to 4/day (from a once 1/2 pack/day) and don't plan on quitting completely again until September. Summer brings around more gatherings and other smokers so a relapse is almost guaranteed. I am never pegged as a smoker, most people are shocked if they find out (I guess I look too innocent?). Besides I hide it well, usually only smoking in my garage.
8) When I was 5 I pulled out a sausage from the freezer that had got buried loose from a package for some time. My dad rinsed it off and cooked it for me and later I puked everywhere. I've never eaten a sausage since.
9) I played softball as a kid and for the most part hated it. My parents forced me to go and after much whining I did. I ended up late to one practice and had to be paired up with the coach to throw balls back and forth. The coach was too busy paying attention to all the others that he chucked one at me and nailed me square in the nose. Luckily, it didn't break but it was a huge bloody mess.
10) Overall, I had to grow up fast & teach myself most life lessons. It was a difficult childhood feeling alone although I had lots of friends. I longed to have my family around well into my 20s. I know now that I will never get that childhood experience and I need to let it go. The best thing I can do is be a caring mother for my own children and make their childhood full of loving memories. I believe that being a stay-at-home mom I can achieve that and look forward to all the adventures!
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1) My parents are both from New Brunswick and came to live in Ontario after they got married (apparently they moved for work). I was born and raised in Ontario and don't know my extended family very well. We have taken a few trips out East when I was younger (some visits were for funerals) and my parents have cut off most contacts with my Dad's side of the family after his mother died. This summer we (myself, kids and husband) are going to visit my mother's side for a week. I am looking forward to connecting with the extended family I longed for as a child and hopefully learn about them and my family's history.
2) Both my parents worked full-time and I was shuffled from babysitter to babysitter as a kid and eventually was left to watch over my brother (who is 7 years younger than I). It was pounded in my head that I would grow up and be a working woman too and do the same thing to my children. I hated all my babysitters and hated the responsibility of being a mother-type to my brother. I did work for many years climbing the corporate ladder faster than most and shocked everyone when I quit to stay home with my youngest child (I was up for a management promotion). Initially, I quit because it would have cost more for childcare, gas, etc. if I continued to work but I soon remembered the feelings I had as a child with working parents and now I'm proud to be a stay-at-home mother and raise my kids.
3) I learned what sex was when I was 4. I had a friend who was a few years older than me and she demonstrated with her Barbie Dolls. I asked her how she knew that and she told me she asked her mom where babies come from. Later that day her mom was driving us somewhere and my friend asked her mom about sex in my presence. Her mom asked me if I knew what sex was and I said yes (I thought I knew because of the Barbies) and her mother was very explicit about the body parts and where they go. I was quite shocked and confused. I came home and asked my mom where babies come from and she told me that God put babies in mommy's tummies and then quickly changed the subject. I knew at the time she lied to me (or withheld the whole truth) and I remember feeling very hurt by that. To this day my mom or dad has never had the "Sex" talk with me.
4) Even though we never had the "Sex" talk my mother scared the crap out of me by telling me what periods were when I was 9. She rambled on for which seemed like an hour but all I got from it was I was going to see blood "down there". For 3 years I was petrified of getting my period until it finally happened at age 12. Thanks Mom.
5) I got grounded for a week once for saying the word "Bastard" which I really had no idea that it was a swear word. My dad and I were playing Nintendo and every time he died he would say "Bastard". I happened to be playing, died and yelled "Bastard" when my mom was putting away laundry in the same room and she immediately freaked out and grounded me. I told her I didn't know it was a swear word but she didn't believe me. Thanks Dad.
6) The person I most idolized growing up was my next door neighbour. She was a great mother of 2 who treated me like a person not just another "teenager". I felt more comfortable talking to her than my own mother. I was always super skinny growing up and a late bloomer and as a young teenage girl this was hard. She told me that by the time I was a senior in high school all the other girls would be fat and I would look great. She was pretty dead on about that.
7) I smoked cigarettes from ages 12-22. I quit when I was pregnant with my son and picked it up again shortly after my daughter was born. I've been in the cycle of quitting and starting ever since. Right now I am down to 4/day (from a once 1/2 pack/day) and don't plan on quitting completely again until September. Summer brings around more gatherings and other smokers so a relapse is almost guaranteed. I am never pegged as a smoker, most people are shocked if they find out (I guess I look too innocent?). Besides I hide it well, usually only smoking in my garage.
8) When I was 5 I pulled out a sausage from the freezer that had got buried loose from a package for some time. My dad rinsed it off and cooked it for me and later I puked everywhere. I've never eaten a sausage since.
9) I played softball as a kid and for the most part hated it. My parents forced me to go and after much whining I did. I ended up late to one practice and had to be paired up with the coach to throw balls back and forth. The coach was too busy paying attention to all the others that he chucked one at me and nailed me square in the nose. Luckily, it didn't break but it was a huge bloody mess.
10) Overall, I had to grow up fast & teach myself most life lessons. It was a difficult childhood feeling alone although I had lots of friends. I longed to have my family around well into my 20s. I know now that I will never get that childhood experience and I need to let it go. The best thing I can do is be a caring mother for my own children and make their childhood full of loving memories. I believe that being a stay-at-home mom I can achieve that and look forward to all the adventures!
