A trip down memory lane

My sister and I were invited to a cookie exchange at our old house we grew up in, the week before Christmas. I am friends with the new owners who have lived there almost 7 years now. I had been back to the house a few times prior to that, which had been fun to re-live those memories of growing up in that house from the time I was 7 1/2- almost 23. She had some sad news that day, that her husband (who had been out of work for almost 3 yrs now) was offered a job in TX, and they will be moving this spring. So we'll be able to go back and visit the house probably one more time before they move and say goodbye. Since I'm sure the new owner's would probably think I was crazy to want to see my old house. I know it's a privilege that most people don't get. But I'm just glad I've had the opportunity to do that.

To a lighter note, all the neighborhood moms came to the party. They all looked exactly as I remembered them, just a little older. There did seem to be a common theme that they were all trying to dress and act much younger than they actually are. Maybe that's what happens when you reach your 50's, I don't know. But my sis and I found it to be absolutely hilarious. With 2 neighbors specifically, had turned into "cougars". Talking about pole dancing clubs, and drinking etc. dressed like they're out for a night on the town. You could have a whole tv show on the "Desperate Housewives of Johnson County" just in our old cul-de-sac.

The other funny, or sad part of that story depending on how you see it, is what happened to their kids:

One mom, had 3 boys, and they all played sports. Well she intentionally held back all 3 of them a year, one of them 2 years in school, so they'd have an advantage in playing competitive sports. 2 of them went on to play football at TCU, and the 3rd one was 24 and about to graduate, and didn't make the team. You could tell she was visibly disapointed in the 3rd son.

Another mom, the cougar mom, gave her daughter drinks of her beer when she was a toddler. And now her daughter is a wild 21 yr old, and mom and daughter go out drinking together.

A couple I used to babysit from my old church had 4 kids. The 2 oldest boys fought like cats and dogs over who got to play nintendo. So much so that whenever I watched them, they were banned from playing it because it irritated me so badly. I sent them outside to play. Their mom said they still are obsessed with gaming to the point where they've shut out other aspects of their lives. The couple is now divorced and their kids are all a mess.

I vividly remember being 10-11 years old when I first started babysitting and saw all these different things going on in the neighborhood that have always stuck with me, things that you never forget, that would affect my views of how I did/did not want to parent. It made me sad for one, what had happened to those families. But more than anything the huge impact we have on our children's lives by the decisions we make for them when they are growing up. Decisions that play into their character and personality for the rest of their lives. I know that no family has the perfect life, and their is always a degree of some dysfunction, but to give the kids a good head start early on.