Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri
Katy is represented by
Rachelle Gardner at
WordServe Literary
Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net
Recent Posts
- Soul Train
- Live Out Your Dream And Discard The Box
- Tears In A Bottle
- From The Young Mom I Once Was, To You
- I Can’t Help Falling
- What A Difference Ten Years Makes
- The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford
- The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- Where Have All The Years Gone
- Fun With Kiki Cullen
- Stuck On Mom
- Ten Years Later, Our Girls From Northern Ireland Remembered
- The Thrift of Grief
- Job Security
- The Party’s Over
Syndicate
E me at katy @ ngenius.com
When I’m Old, I Will NEVER….
OK, here’s the deal. It’s come to my attention over the course of nearly 53 years of observation that we humans spend a lot of time thinking about and committing to various versions of “When I grow up, I will be a different kind of parent…” or “When I get my own apartment, I will always have a bag of chocolate chips in the freezer…” or “I will never let my body go to heck in a handbasket like my mother or grandmother or sister or aunt has.”
You get the idea. You’ve said this stuff, too, right?
At this stage of my life, the thing I’m promising myself, my husband, and my children I will NEVER do is accumulate so much worthless junk that my descendents are unduly burdened with unsaddling it either before or after my demise. I tell myself EVERY DAY that I will stay on top of it, stay free of it, deal with it. And yet, I can’t help but notice that old people invariably stop dealing, and their kids have to do the job—kids who, while they chisel their way through the old folks’ debris, promise that THEY will never do such a thing to their children.
So tell me. What have you promised you’ll do differently than the behavior that’s been patterned for you? What makes you believe you can break the pattern? Do we merely deceive ourselves when we make these commitments, or is there hope? (Please, tell me there’s hope, even if you have to lie to do it.)
And if you have any reassurances you’d like to offer my adorable children about the future state of dear, old Mom and Pop’s basement, attic, and garage, I’m sure they’d appreciate the comfort right about now.
I’ve promised not to press charges if the kids just burn down the house when we either disappear mentally or physically, although the former is subject to some debate already.
M
Posted by Michael Main on 12/12/06 at 03:16 PMYears ago, I decided that I wouldn’t eat the way my parents did so that I could give myself better odds in beating colon cancer, heart disease and diabetes. I’ve done okay, but I still have that sugar addiction, and it seems to be getting worse as I age. Regarding the accumulation of stuff, that’s my husband’s department. I’m a “when in doubt, throw it out,” kind of gal. Maybe because I have no kids to rummage through my stuff after I’m gone.
Posted by Suzan on 12/13/06 at 06:45 AMas i was thinking of my own parent’s dis-organizational state (mainly dad)... i grew extremely nervous and overwhelmed at the thought of ever having to go through it all. i am somewhat of a minimalist (perhaps in response to the clutter in which i once lived) so when i depart, my goal is that i will leave behind a neat legacy of organized files and photos (all labeled and dated). that’s my goal… i think i have alot of work to do.
Posted by joshua on 12/14/06 at 01:02 PMWhen I’m old, and that’s going to happen very soon, I just want to be able tell inspiring stories to the kids, as what my grandma did…, be a story teller and a wiseman ( maybe a clock-builder as well).
Posted by aroeng on 12/24/06 at 04:42 PM
Next entry: Not Just One Mama Mia, Either
Previous entry: Repetitive Stress Ministries
