Childhood Teachings

Thursday, March 05, 2015

Today I am grateful for childhood teachings. I just talked with my mom and told her I was glad that she insisted I learn how to do things when I was a kid. I’ve told her before, but I’m not sure she remembered. If you are lucky enough to still have your parents, stop reading, go to the phone, call them and tell them the same thing.

I have acquired a moderate amount of knowledge to do a lot of different things. I learned to paint rooms and wield tools from my dad. My mom insisted I learn to play the piano, cook and sew. It’s that sewing thing that came into play when I finished the jacket I wrote about earlier this week.

I haven’t done much more than emergency-repair sewing for a long time. When I knew exactly what I wanted to wear with a dress I bought and couldn’t find it anywhere, I knew I’d have to make it. I didn’t even know I remembered how to begin sewing. . .but I did. “Some things get cut on the fold, but some don’t,” my mom said. “It’s important you line it up on the straight or the garment won’t hang correctly.” As I went along I kept hearing voices. “Ease that sleeve in. Just use the seam riper to gently push the top part so that there isn’t a pucker.” My grandma’s voice paid me a visit.

I am proof that if you learn something well, it will stay with you a lifetime. I wonder what else I forgot I could do? Imagine your children and/or grandchildren, many years from now, remembering how you held that guitar. . .or crochet hook. Picture the look on their future faces when they recall how they nailed their thumb with the hammer instead of the actual nail, when you told them to be careful a hundred times. Or the time they stepped in the roller pan and walked paint all over the rug when you let them paint their own room for the first time. Or how it felt when it was their turn to show their own kids how to sew.

The jacket is done and I am very grateful. Although it was me at the machine, I owe the necessary skill needed to the wonderful childhood teachings of my talented female ancestors.