Lessons from your family that stuck with you most

[Kitty 34]

Have a good sense of humor and after 67 years (many of those living next door to family).............Amen to that one!!

 

[anniemae]

Never any shame in an honest days work

(this was said to me after I was complaining about having to clean out the dumpster bins at the pizza place I worked at)

 

[Kimkimba]

My mom always said, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” Kindness will always matter.

 

[Keli]

My mom taught me a ton of valuable lessons but the biggest take away she gave me was that our time here on earth is short and it's just the beginning of our existence so aim everything you do with an eye towards eternity.
My dad isn't a big talker, he mostly taught by example but his examples consist of 'be responsible' and 'do good'.

 

[belle032]

My dad was a retired airline pilot and he instilled a love and importance of travel in me. I will be forever grateful of the traveling I was privileged enough to do when I was younger and I never feel "whole" unless our next adventure in the works. There's a big world out there. Go see it, experience it, learn about it, enjoy it, and respect it.

 

[VandVsmama]

Work hard.
Try your best.
Get a good education.
Be honest.

Lessons I learned from my family, but it's from doing things differently than some of them:
Don't judge others. You never know what sort of stuff the other person is dealing with or going through.
Admit to your kids that you make mistakes.
Apologize to your kids when you've been a butt head.
Be direct.
Don't be passive-aggressive.
Don't make people guess.
Don't play manipulative games with people.

 

[hhisc16]

Do not do illegal drugs!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Just because you can afford something doesn’t mean you should buy it. Live a little bit below your means and build up that savings account. You don’t need the most expensive hotel, car, clothes, etc. Shop carefully. If you get laid off or have an unexpected expense, you’ll be glad you did.

 

[Figment of Speech]

"If 100 people can do it, anyone can do it."
- wisdom from my grandfather when he was teaching me how to drive

The genius of this mantra was that there are certain things that only a handful of people in the world can do, so don't beat yourself up if you never run a 3-minute mile. But other things that may seem daunting at first, like driving, if you're a 15-year-old who's never been behind the wheel before, are doable. How do you know? Because you don't have to be exceptional to do it, you just have to put in the time and attention.

 

[HeatherC]

Seize the day! Life is way tooo short so if there is something you want to do, go do it. None of us know what tomorrow brings. Both my parents have always encouraged us to do this.

Also….keep laughing and find humor in everything.

And also work hard but always remember that money is a means to an end, not the be all. Keep it in perspective.

 

[nicolita3]

"The worst they can say is no"

Whenever I was/am afraid to ask something, my mom always says this. This has actually helped me a lot of times and gotten things I probably would not have if I did not ask.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

There's no such thing as a "college kid." Kids don't go to college, adults do.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

In the end, everyone is out for themselves. Plan accordingly.

 

[georgina]

Like many with depression-era parents, being thrifty was instilled in all 6 of us kids. Mom was an immigrant with an 8th grade education, and dad was orphaned as a teen who got to college after WW II on the GI bill, so education was highly stressed (though I knew from a young age that I had to pay for college myself). Hard work and self-reliance.

Funny reading some of the above responses, there was never anything about laughter, fun, travel, or seizing the day. I think that is very telling and we were a serious bunch.

My dad never did any investing, put his money in T-bills, so I had to learn that by myself. I did make all my kids open Roth IRAs when they started working in HS, and helped them fund the max they could based on their earnings. They were also taught to never put anything on a credit card that they couldn't pay off at the end of the month.

 

[BayouQueen]

We grew up in Southern California. My older sister got herself into all kinds of trouble and didn't follow any of the good advice from our mother, except...

Sister always said, "The one and only bit of advice I followed from mom was 'Stay away from the oleanders.'"

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Do not do illegal drugs!

 

[PollyannaMom]

What lessons from your family (or friends) drive part of who you are today?

Like you, I had the influence of someone who lived through the depression, but it was my grandmother. - From her I learned that there's another use for almost everything (which is great for trying to save the planet...but not so great for controlling clutter. )

From my Dad, it was that everyone has something to teach you, and that intelligence is as much a toy as it is a tool - to enjoy learning for the love of it, not just for the grades.

From my Mom, it was to do the "little things" - send someone a card, thank them for that favor they did, write down their favorite color (or candy or whatever...) when they mention it, so you'll remember it when Christmas or their birthday rolls around. - The "little things" end up being the things we remember.

And what is it that you pass along to your own kids?

We've tried to teach DS good financial sense, passed down to us from DH's father. DS wants to be like him, so I think we got that right.

Also, to see the different sides of a situation. He and I used to play a game when he was younger called "Three Scenarios" where we'd come up with three explanations for things we saw. I think it helps with compassion.

 

[holden]

Save, save, save. I started saving my money at 16. By 23 DH and I bought our first house.

Let your kids make mistakes and learn from them. My parents weren't lax, but they weren't overly strict. When I made mistakes (and I made a few), they were more concerned that I learned something from it than making me "pay" via punishment. Honestly, those few times I screwed up, I did learn and never repeated those actions.

 

[TippyThomas]

It's not what someone did, it's how you choose to react to it.

 

[JoanneAZ]

My parents gave me a love of travel and taught me that you don’t have to travel expensively. We had a tent trailer and camped all over the West and Southwest US. This also taught me that my idea of roughing it is a hotel with electricity, running water, and a tv.
My mother gave me a love of reading for which I am forever grateful. Reading lets me learn about so many things and allows me to visit places I can never go, some of them places that don’t exist outside of the book.
They taught me that education is very important because I need to pay my own way and have to rely on myself to get things done.
They taught me that no relationship is perfect and that divorce should never be the first answer to marital problems.