Sunday, February 6, 2011

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Moments

My second go at a Stream of Consciousness post. This time I actually thought out what I was going to write before, which seems a little like a cheat, but I felt so ill-prepared last week. Anyhoo, here's what's jumbling around in my head at the moment. As always, the rules according to Fadra are thus: set the timer for 5 minutes, write, write, write and when the timer stops, that's it. No editing.

Most of my memories from my childhood are not full fledged memories as I know them as an adult. They are not full recollections of activities but more snapshots. Moments in time captured. We got a fair amount of snow last week. We live across from the fields of an elementary school and part of those fields are the sledding hills for the area. Whenever there is enough accumulation to make it possible, the kids come out in droves, lining up along the ridge and tearing down the short run before picking themselves up and racing back up to the top for another go.

I am certain that there were numerous sledding adventures in my childhood. Probably at least once every year, my sister and I hit the snow covered hills in our area. But there is one such outing that stands out. It happened when we lived in Heidelberg, Germany. And strangely it isn't really the sledding that I remember, although there are flashes of that. Tearing down the hill on the old-style curved toboggan or one of the metal and wood runner sleds. What I remember is afterward, when red-faced and wild-haired, we all trooped to the nearest fast food restaurant and sat down for french fries and hot cocoa. An unlikely combination but at 10 years old, after a cold afternoon spent sledding, they were divine. I remember all of us sitting around, my parents, my sister, and some family friends and their kids who were our age. In the snapshot in my mind, everyone is laughing as we cup the cocoa in cold hands.

I think about that image and how happy I was that day and I wonder what snapshots my daughter will take with her of her childhood. What unlikely event will be the amalgam for a group of happy memories? I know I can't possibly pick and choose which it will be, but it certainly makes me aware of each moment that I share with my daughter. And in that awareness, attempt to make every experience matter. Its easy to make the big moments spectacular, the magic is in making the little ones even more so.




#SOCsunday

13 comments:

  1. I truly believe it will be the little things they remember most.

    You probably remember that day b/c of the joy of it, with your family and friends, lots of laughter, and hello...french fries and chocolate!

    I try to be aware of the daily stuff, knowing it won't just be the family vacations and birthday parties they remember, but the way I packed their lunches everyday with their favorite foods, and the hugs they get when they walk in the door after school.

    I love these posts, Cara!

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  2. Oh I think about that stuff all the time. What will my son remember? What will he look back on and fondly reminisce about? Like you, my childhood memories are full of emotions. Thinking about my sledding experiences, I have a distinct memory of playing out int he snow so long that my nose was running. I would take my knitted glove and wipe my nose and still remember those snow clumps making my nose cold. It was the texture of the moment. Why I remember that? I don't know but sledding was definitely one of my favorite childhood activities. LOVED this post.

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  3. It's funny because it seems others will remember whole events but I don't. My mother swears I only remember the bad stuff. Sometimes I feel like I was in an accident because I want to remember certain things and can't!

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  4. It's funny how we remember things, isn't it? LIke I can remember something as stressful and horrible and the kids remember it as the best thing ever. So funny!

    I totally have a taste for hot chocolate and fries now, thanks alot. lol. I really like this meme. I MUST remember to participate next week!

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  5. You lived in Heidelberg!?!? Did I know this?

    I always wonder what memories will stick with my kids.

    Good post, even unedited.

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  6. My friends and I who have 2 year olds are in agreement. None of us remember a damn thing from our own lives before age 4 or 5! Haha. That gives me some time to improve my cooking skills and hold off taking him back to Disneyland. Just joking.

    BTW, how did you enjoy A Reliable Wife? I read it last year and found it hard to put down.

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  7. The things I remember most were just everyday moments, not the planned spectacles that some parents go for these days. I say keep it simple & special and she will have wonderful memories to last a lifetime.

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  8. Isn't it funny what we remember? I, too, wonder what my kids will remember of their childhood. Hopefully NOT that Mommy yelled a lot.

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  9. Love it - isn't it so weird how our brain chooses certain moments to remember? But ever since I studied memory in school now I always feel weirdly doubtful of my childhood recollections, scared I've partially invented them!

    (Yes, I took that a weird place. I'm sorry. I just can't help myself.)

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  10. As I read your post, I thought of the sledding hill where the kids in my small Pennsylvania town always went - not me and my siblings, we lived outside of town - but ironically, the sledding hill was on the edge of a development called Heidelberg. Weird.

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  11. I have so many wonderful childhood memories, and I also have memories of when I was sad, worried, scared... I often wonder what my children will remember, too... and at times when I yell or lose my temper or patience with my children I stop and think that is not what I want them to remember!

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  12. well DUDE. Getting all deep on me this morning. Especially since I was stressing over cleaning the house for a birthday party. Now I am determined to chill the hell out and just enjoy it before it's over. Thanks Cara. Muwah.

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  13. I can almost taste those french fries! Yum! And now I'm thinking back on many fond hot-cocoa memories of my own. It's funny how food and memory are so intertwined ... or, wait, is that just me??

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Give me some sugar, baby!