Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Lessons of Childhood!!

Wear it out, use it up!!!!

Waste not want not.

When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's these were phrases I heard quite often. I grew up in a household consisting of 3 adults (we lived with our Grandmother in her home, my Dad's childhood home).and 4 children. We grew our own vegetables and had several fruit trees and grapevines. We also raised chickens and as a result had fresh eggs. We were taught at a very young age not to waste anything and to use what we had until it was no longer of any use.

As I was thinking about the rising cost of fuel and food ( milk and gas are about the same in price) these sayings came to mind.

We need to use up what we have and not to waste anything. Then the second part of this lesson I was taught was to share what we had with others. We had a family who lived across the street from us. They were not as fortunate as we were. Each night when we finished our meal, our Grandmother and Mother will spoon up the rest of the food from the pot and place it in their good serving bowl and have us take it to our neighbors.

These lessons I learned in my childhood have stayed with me throughout my adult life. I still practice them today.

25 comments:

Britt- Sparkled Vintage Charm said...

great post. xo Britt :-)

Vickie said...

Mary - loved your childhood lesson about sharing with your neighbors. If only more people would do these things with their children today!
As high as milk and gas get, we know the Lord will provide our daily needs, don't we!
Thank you, too, for your kind words about my son, Adam. I hope you have a great and blessed week! Vickie

Unknown said...

The other day I was thinking about how the rising cost of fuel is reflected in so many other prices. I wonder sometimes if this lesson has made us all a bit more mindful. I love your childhood lesson and I think that being satisfied with what we have is such a good lesson. Karen

Vee said...

What a valuable lesson your grandmother and mother taught you about sharing and being frugal. We need those lessons these days. I saw numbers on the gas pump today that I'd never seen before in relation to my tank. Ackkk!

Sandi McBride said...

Wonderful post Mary...your childhood sounds much like mine. I too grew up in a loving sharing environment...it makes all the difference!
hugs
Sandi

Justabeachkat said...

I grew up hearing my Mom say those very words. Great lessons for us all to remember and live by.

Hugs!
Kat

Unknown said...

What a great and still very relevant memory! My parents taught me not to waste either. I also read many books about the Native Americans and truly appreciated how resourceful they were and how much they respected Creation.

We live in such wasteful days, don't we?

Hugs, KJ

Jennifer said...

i love that. i think you are so right. my goal is to have a little family farm just like the one you had growing up. i want to learn to live off of the land. it isn't impossible, is it? it is just something that i feel like the Lord wants my family to do. thanks for sharing those sweet thoughts.

jenny

~*Marie*~ said...

We do have a huge garden and I would love to have chickens, but as far as the "waste not want not" lesson to live by, I do try to live by that! Great post. Thanks for sharing!

Sandy said...

Thank you for visiting my blog!

I love these lessons that you shared - very beautiful!

Sandy

bluemuf said...

Mary, As someone who also grew up in the 50's I was also taught these same lessons. They are good lessons to always try and live by.

thank you for posting.

Hugs karen

Jan said...

I think alot of us grew up hearing the same things! Makes me wonder why we aren't hearing those words so much today?
Being frugal isn't even a choice for alot of us right now.
Really good post!

Jan

Jessi Nagy said...

fabulous post doll.
so very true.
have a great week.

oxoxo,
jessi

BittersweetPunkin said...

I was raised the same way!! I am trying to teach my kids to not be wasteful....its not as easy in this day of "excess"...
Hugs,
Robin

Back Through Time said...

I was raised the same way in the 60's and 70's. We have become such a wasteful society. Great reminders for all of us and maybe some out there will start practicing it again
Hugs
Michelle

Anonymous said...

Very great ideas.I ave always felt the same.

Mary said...

Mary,

I was raised much as you were. We weren't allowed to waste anything. Table scraps went to the dogs or pigs. Leftovers were used for the next day's meals. Grandma often made meals for those who were ill or less fortunate. She had a giving heart and I believe she influenced who I am today.

We should all help our fellow man when we can. Love one another... Though sometimes life is a struggle, there are always those less fortunate.

Thank you so much for praying for my Aunt May. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and your prayers.

Blessings,
Mary

~~Deby said...

Great post...as Americans we throw so much food away..and other things as well...we haven't really had, true hard times...
To be frugal is a good thing as everything we have is the Lord's, it is something we are learning. Not easy, but possible.
Deby

Darla said...

Wonderful reminder to use what we have and be greatful that we have it to use.

Darla

Cindy said...

What a great post! Yep, everything grams and gramp said, may be things we need to begin to take heart. They are saying here that gas could hit 5 a gallon by the end of summer. ouch.

c

ShabbyInTheCity said...

I have to admit...I was miserable using up and wearing out things when I was young and at home. I compared us to other people and felt cheated...I'm over it now!
Except for that dress Mama made me out of the basement curtains....I'm not over that yet.

Nnairda's said...

Two wonderful and important lessons. I try to teach that to my son. These are both lessons that I've learned as a child, but sometimes I'm laxed in following them.

Thanks for the reminder!

Be blessed:)

Carole Burant said...

Your childhood sounds a lot like mine...we also had my gran living with us but we were 5 kids instead of 4! lol My mom also taught us how to share everything we had instead of letting it go to waste and to this day, she and I still do that. A wonderful practice to learn:-)

Mary, I haven't heard anything at all from Karen and like you, am wondering what's going on. It's been well over 2 weeks now since she's last posted. Wonder if her computer has gone on the blink because I know she was having problems with it. I miss her too:-(

When you get a chance, come over to my blog to enter my giveaway:-) xoxo

kari and kijsa said...

Great lessons and ones we should all remember!

Have a blessed weekend!

smiles, kari & kijsa

Unknown said...

Mary, those are the same lessons I learned as a child. I have tried to instill those same lessons in my children. Hope they listened.

God bless.