Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Personal Childhood Web

This is a picture of me at four months, being lovingly tossed on to the bed.  Thank goodness my parent's parenting skills increased as I got older.  My Dad was a great man. At 6'3 he towered above me and my friends. He had a deep voice and an equally deep laugh.  He had been an MP during WWII and was all definetly "a man's man".  He was also my Girl Scout leader and helped me win a badge for selling the most cookies by sitting with me every weekend in front of the local market.  He died when I was 18, but he had a huge impact of my early years and was a great example of what a 'Dad' should be.

 This is a photo of my mom giving me a bath. She was definetly the more gentle force in my life.  When I was little, my mom sewed all of my clothes, including Halloween and school play costumes.  She spent hours trying to teach me to sew, crochet, knit or do any of the hundreds of creative things she did. Unfortunatley for me, none of it stuck.  My mom  didn't give up though, she kept at it till she found my talent. Thanks to my mom by the time I was 12, I played five different musical instruments. 
This is my Mom and Grandma Nettie, my Dad's mom.  She lived in Long Beach, California when I was young.  I remember that she used to keep special drawer in her dresser full of pretty scarves and make-up, and when I went to her house we would play dress-up in her room.  As an adult, Grandma Nettie came to live with me in her final years and we had a special time together with my infant son, whom she loved very much.
This is Margie and Glenn Hobbs, both of whom have passed on now. They were my Godparents and we spent many summer visiting them on the lake.  I remeber that Margie's house always smelled like fresh baked bread, and she loved to collect Hummel figurines. She began a collection for me when I was born, and for every birthday and Christmas she gave me a Hummel figurine or a Madame Alexander doll to add to the collection.  Margie and Glenn came to all the important school functions and wrote me letters when I was old enough to read.

These are the five people I chose to talk about because each of them helped shape my life and me, into the person I am today.

4 comments:

Christine said...

That is so great that you have all of those pictures of your childhood. I know there are pictures of me, but they are all still at my parents. I was the second child so there really aren't that many.

I also have fond memories of my parents growing up. My mom was a stay at home mom and my dad was an engineer and worked very hard. Yet, he still had time to coach all my sports teams and I have wonderful memories of that.

I think that is why I want to be an early childhood professional. I want all children to have good memories of their childhood.

toya said...

This again is a great idea of having your childhood memory pictures displayed for others to see. I have alot of pictures from when i was a child, as well. Your family seems to be very fun to be around. Pictures are the best memory to have.

I love it when you said your dad helped you sell girl scout cookies,that is awesome,and i am sure he did indeed make a great impact on you.

The early childhood field is all about capturing those moments and showing the evidence to the parents. At my center we take alot of pictures to show or families the childrens progress throughtout the year.
This was a wonderful post, great job.

Anonymous said...

What a great personal childhood web. I like reading each others blogs because you get to know so much about the person. I love the picture of you and your father. I can’t believe he was your girl scout leader! You play 5 musical instruments? What are they? Have you always had a love for music? Your pictures were great to look at. It really gives an insight to your childhood!

Debbie0129 said...

Stacie, I really enjoyed all of the older pics you put on your site. I remember how everyone dressed back then! Don't you especially love remembering being with your grandparents? I especially cherish those times and until I started doing the activities for week 3 I didn't realize how some of my family that I didn't get to really see that often actually played a crucial role in my development. I remember the anticipation of going there for a visit. Good times!