Memories

Letely I've been doing things that remind me of people I love and miss.  Some of these people are no longer living, some of them are far away.  I find it odd the things that make me think of people I love.  Canning apples, the smell of roasting chile, and hot air balloons are some of the things.  This might seem normal-ish but there are other things that probably aren't normal.  Teaching my son pattern recognition reminded me of a wonderful lady who led me to love math.  When I was running with my children and my pants started falling down I thought about how my grandfather used to make fun of those silly guys that wear the baggy pants.  Then, the other day I saw a kid sitting on an old tire and remembered doing that with my brother.  All this has made me think about the memories I am giving my children.  What are they going to remember about growing up as my children?  I want to take this into account with every vacation plan and special day plan, but I am also starting to think about it when we do everyday things as well.  I want to make trips to the grocery store fun too.  I tried this today when we went to the store, we started playing word games, like what rythmes with bacon and what else starts with m like milk.  The funny thing was that the children started behaving better when we played the games.  It was strange because I thought I was just trying to make them have happy memories, when in fact I was happier and they were able to get through the shopping without a single "this is boring" or "can I have?"  Now, especially when I'm tired, I am going to remember this little lesson and play more word games when we shop.  I actually got everything on my list and I didn't have to talk to my children about how naughty they were in the store.  Hopefully my children will remember fun times at the grocery store when they are telling their grandchildren about me.