Here at waddlee-ah-chaa we are much too busy for our own good. Immediately after the Christmas season passed, we hit the ground running once again. On January 2nd, our father turned 80 years young! My sisters, Joyce and Jennifer, and I have been working around the clock planning a BIG birthday celebration with all of our father’s family and friends. Believe me, a person gets to know a lot of people in 80 years! Sunday was the official Big Birthday Bash! Now we’re running off to tackle the next project.
Our father has always been interested in photography and was always playing around with his camera. In preparation, for the big party we looked through thousands of family photos.
All of these old photos, in combination with Joyce’s post on creating a Green library for children on a thrifty budget, made me think of our childhood growing-up with Ma and Pa frugal. My parents were reducing, reusing and recycling long before it was trendy!
To say we were raised by Ma and Pa frugal is an understatement. Let me repeat for emphasis. To say we were raised by Ma and Pa frugal is an understatement! And let me confess upfront that when you are an immature brat, a frugal lifestyle can classify as one that occasionally sucks. I never had a Big Wheel or any other popular toys. Let me stop to wipe a tear. If you are the appropriate age, you can imagine how this is still wearing on my psyche. I never owned a pair of Calvin Klein jeans. In the 1980’s nothing came between us and our Calvins. Unless of course you didn’t own a pair like me. I was not one of those college kids who had a credit card that was paid for by my parents while I played around in college. In fact, I had to pay for every penny of my college education myself.
Now that I’m no longer an immature brat, well at least I try, I can appreciate the benefits of living an occasionally sucky, frugal lifestyle. The girls, as my parents like to call us, have all been self-supportive since almost the age of 16. Yes, really that young. Given that my parents weren’t into frivolous notions such as fashion and extra curricular activities, we each went to work early in life, spending our own money on the things most important to us. I guess we all learned the value of money early. None of us have ever had to freeze our credit cards in a block of ice. None of us have ever had our car repossessed in the middle of the night. And none of us have had to change our names and go into the witness protection program to avoid creditors. We each live a fairly modest lifestyle full of love and family. But just for the record, Ma and Pa frugal still drive us crazy sometimes.
Happy 80th Daddy
Life with Jeannine
Now that you’re no longer an immature brat, what material things have you given-up in your life?
It’s Easy Being Green: Four Book GIVEAWAY of the Week
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Happy birthday to your father! It’s an interesting post which made me think yet again of how my daughter’s life is different from my own. I grew up in an apartment that was 400 sq ft, and there was simply not enough space for a lot of things to own. I am not doing terribly well raising my daughter frugally even though she doesn’t have the same amount of plastic and battery-operated junk as many of her friends. We choose quality toys that she might be able to pass on to her own children and buy some of them second-hand – this is our way to recycle.
For help, where can one, find a drug to avoid tears ? My life is passing in front of my eyes. My heartfelt thanks. Daddy