This post follows on from the list of people that have had the biggest imapct on my life. It was a pretty slow day today so thought it was a good time to start explaining my list
Mum
This doesn't mean that my mum is the number 1 influence in my life and those further down are less significant. As I have previously mentioned, they are in more of a chronological order than impact.
That said, my mum was a huge influence in shaping me as a human. Mums in general I am sure play a massive role in their children's lives, but probably more so if you are a 'mummy's boy' :-) A lot of the habits and life skills I have developed over the years I probably picked up from my mum.
She was always the one giving me tips on how to prepare food and what to do when making things from scratch. She made sure I knew how to sew a button on if one ever came off my clothes. I'm sure she in turn got these things from my grandma and that's how things like recipes are passed down. I do fear a lot of these types of things will disappear as we move into the 'convenience era' and a generation of throw-away fashion.
A prime example is when I was younger I was shown how. to make an apple crumble, peeling the apples, chopping them up etc then making a breadcrumb texture with the flour sugar, and butter by rubbing them through my fingers. My godson about 8 years ago was making the same dish at school and was asked to bring in a tin of apples and a packet of ready-made crumble mix. Now I'm no Gordon Ramsay but tipping a tin into a bowl and pouring out a packet of crumble mix on top is not really showing children how to cook from scratch.
One of the biggest things my mum instilled in me is my work ethic. From as far back as I can remember my mum had always worked multiple jobs. When I was very small she would work in a factory doing piece work and then would do a market stall. As I got into my teens she worked in the canteen for one company and then cleaned after hours too. I sometimes used to go with her to do the cleaning as I enjoyed spending time with her and also it was exciting to be in offices when they were closed lol. I think the only time I can remember her only having one job was when she was the stewardess of Failsworth Home Guard. The only reason then was because she couldn't have fit in a second job due to the hours she worked.
Even from being young I always had jobs. I had a paper round for a while but struggled to get up for it lol. Then I worked in two shops at the same time, one at a grocer
on a Saturday and another after school stocking the shelves up. I enjoyed working with people and also having my own financial independence.
Mum also encouraged me to save and I joined various child savings schemes that supplied money boxes for you to put your spare change in. I remember having a Halifax house-shaped one and then I tried to collect the NatWest pig family, though I think I only got as far as the first two.
Quite often some of the little quirks I criticise my mum for, I stop and realise I have the same quirks. For example if a new food product comes out and they are on offer cos they have just been released, we don't just buy one flavour we buy them all lol. Even without knowing if we are going to like them, if it's a bargain we have to have them all lol.
One of the influences my mum has had on my life without her even realising is that I have seen how she always used to make plans for what she was going to do when she retired. Sadly due to ill health, those things never happened, so I always try to do the things I want to do as soon as it is possible rather than waiting till later in life. That was probably one of the reason's I started my "Life List". It's kind of like a bucket list but I just add to it constantly in a book that my friend Rachel bought for me Christmas 1994.
I realised that I too was guilty of putting things off. Example: I would be sit in a restaurant looking at the menu and say "oooh smoked salmon, I've always fancied trying that" and then the waiter would ask what I wanted for starter "prawn cocktail please". Simply because I knew I liked that and thought I will try the salmon another time. Then before you know it 'another. time' hasn't happened because life has passed you buy. So now every time. I think "oh that looks good" or "I might try that one day" it gets added to my book. Then the next the opportunity presents itself for something that's in my book, I have to do it. I then cross them off with a highlighter so I can still see the things.
Having this book has made me take advantage of so many opportunities that I may otherwise have missed or put off for "another day". It's also nice to be able to look back and see all the things you've done.
Get yerself a book and start making things happen !!
More people off My List will get their own blog post soon. :-)