Harmless ramblings

Firstly it is 6am and I was going to try to get back to sleep after pumping but my mind is wandering so instead I'm writing!

It has occurred to me lately that with each generation it seems that the wisdom of previous generations is largely untapped! I'm thinking mainly of our parents here.

"What?" I here you ask! Let me explain.

When I was a child I had fitted sheets on my bed, which were easy to put on (and I do think I made my own bed - Mum will correct me if that's wrong!). At some point I had to use a flat sheet for whatever reason. When that happened my mum taught me how to do hospital corners, a skill I have rarely had to employ as I have fitted sheets now!

However, at the hospital the cribs do not have fitted sheets, they are flat. (Can you see where I'm going?) A number of times I have changed Emma's bedding for the nurses and, you guessed it, I had to use the hospital corners. There is something strangely amusing about doing hospital corners in a hospital!! (If you don't know what hospital corners are, it's the correct way to fold a sheet on a bed!)

So now I'm thinking of all the things I wish I had taken time to learn from my parents or grandparents, and kept up! Here are some examples, and they may strike a chord with you also:

• how to sew clothes (other than hemming pants! I can sew on buttons though)
• how to do a french plait (or braid)
• gardening (I come from a family of green fingers (or thumbs in the US!) but I don't know a perennial from an herbivore (I know it's not a plant, it was a joke!)
• cooking - I have family recipes from Mum and Grandma, but it does not come naturally!

The list is endless! Despite those things, there are others that I have learned, or simply inherited that are priceless. Such as my love of reading and photography, proficiency in cleaning and basic accounting, good manners (I hope!). I would include a love of shopping on there, but it could go either way!

I hope that I can one day help Emma to do all these things, and maybe we can even learn to do more together! One thing is for sure, I appreciate my Mum and Dad more with each day. As a wise woman once said (not to me, but I overheard!) as much as I love Emma, that is how much my parents love me. It's an important thing to remember because I can still be a brat even now!

So here's to my parents, and all the others out there who may often feel unappreciated! It's a tough job, but thanks for sticking with it.

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 5:16

For those of us who are new to parenthood, just keep going! God is always the best example of a loving yet disciplining parent - forgiving and just.

N.B. Yesterday's posting is below!