Friday, January 12, 2007

Forgive my "aha!" moment

I went to sleep after writing the entry below.
When I woke, I realized that all this domestic collecting--Tupperware, aprons, silver--is my way of recreating the childhood I lost. I use my household tools every day, but I never thought about why they mean so much to me until now.

Wow. Blogging is so much cheaper than therapy.

5 comments:

Carrie J said...

Meredith, I do the same thing. My father died when I was 4, my Mom kind of fell apart and...well let me just say the rest wasn't so great. Except for my grandparents, they were the bright spot in my childhood. So I tend to buy and use things that remind me of my grandparents . I have been lucky enough to own some of my Grandmother's things( including aprons that she made and wore) and I have filled in the blanks at the thrift stores and yard sales. I especially like using these things at the holidays since it makes me feel close to them.

Anonymous said...

Or weekly support groups. Or self-improvement gurus.

Which is, of course, why we blog. *Laugh*

Anonymous said...

I think that to some degree we all do that. We want to recreate something that we lost or loved so much that we want to have it over and over and pass it on to our children. Nothing wrong with that. I have a old ice box that was still working in my kitchen when I was a child (yes, I'm that old!). It now is in my kitchen filled with cook books from long ago. I have found memories of the ice man coming to the house to fill the ice box. Recreating is one of those things that makes us smile inside and is a gift from God. Enjoy the "aha" moment.

The Frugal Shrink said...

I attempt to recreate what I *did* have, and I'll do so when I have children, too. :) Perhaps you never can get away from the past, whether good or bad.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it neat when something like that becomes so clear? It's wonderful you are giving yourself and your family the home environment you dreamed of as a kid. I find many of the things I cherish about my home environment are drawn from my experience of my grandparents' house and my childhood best friend's house. Both seemed like such calm, organized oases to me compared to the cluttered, emotionally unsafe house I was growing up in.