Family Matters

Family Matters...

Seems like a strange post huh? Well not so strange to us in the Brockway/ Ouellette family. It is a way of life. Growing up the smell of food and chaos always seemed to go together like two peas in a pod. The chaos was always a direct influence of an enormous amount of screaming kids and an uncountable amount of laughter. When the holiday's rolled around the clanging of dishes, overpowering smell of pumpkin pies, and screams of "You Cheated! I'm not playing!" seemed to go hand in hand. I have always been a fan of the Holidays. Little did I know I would later marry the "President" of Tinsletown. Shelly (Mother-in-law) seems to think he's the owner or mayor of Tinsletown not just the president. Holiday's always represented one thing to me. That one thing is loud, annoying, and opinionated. That one thing was family.  I am the living definition of "the more the merrier." 

As I am typing this I am a little ashamed to admit we seem to be on the road to the total opposite.We still do ALOT with close family but our aunts,uncles, and cousins seem to be the OAHF (Only At Holiday family). Sometimes we are so busy planning, preparing, and stressing about the small details we tend to forget how much fun a world of chaos can be. Do not get me wrong I have bad days of therapy and doctors appointments and I wish everyone would just disappear. It seems that the value of having immense  extended family involvement is fading. Family's are looking for "Family Time' in all the wrong places. The place to have family time is at HOME. "Quality Time" isn't taking your kids to Wal-Mart, the mall, or even OUT to the movies. 

Jay and I recently made a decisions for me  to become a full-time stay at home mommy. That change reduced our family to one income. I had to look at my "Paycheck" from a different prospective. My Paycheck does not come in money it comes in Elizabeth's everyday developmentally progress. Did I struggle with this decision ? I would be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty sometimes. I worked so that if I wanted a new purse I got it. I never had to the think about the "repercussions."  If anything I hope you can take from this that FAMILY is the priority. On days I feel guilty I remember that working isn't an option. I have therapy with Elizabeth three times a week and at least ONE doctors appointment but the love I receive in one day will never compare to a years worth of paychecks. I am blessed that my husband has a job that I can stay home with Elizabeth.  I am not screaming "Quite you job and stay at home!" like some cave woman. I am simply implying that in our circumstances we feel Elizabeth will FLOURISH with me staying at home. 

A prime example... last night Jay and I decided we would cancel our plans of a night out on the town for a night of Rummy and Jenga.(If I didn't say it right my sister-in-law will be sure to tell me.) Elizabeth was in bed by 8 o'clock as usual. We reminisced on 'the good ole days." Jay told stories of being a child and sneaking out of bed to catch his parents and extended friends and family having a rowdy game of poker without them. Randon (My sister-in-law, but sister in many ways) was a little older and remembers being their "waitress" and being tipped for cokes and chips-n-dip. I couldn't help but remember being a child and the many games we played at my grandmothers house in north Mississippi. We played any card or board game we could get our hands on. At grandmother's house you didn't stop unless the game was over. There was no sympathy for a sleepy little girl. Those card games were serious. If she was still here she would tell us we all cheated anyways. 

Point to my blog:
Family time influences your children. It can dictate who and what they will become. It can make or break a child. In today world we are so caught up on our electronics that we forget the games were even made for more than one person to play. And they were certainly not made for an electronic device. I want my child to remember Jay and I playing cards not that we took her to see Monsters, Inc in theater . Do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with taking your child to the movies. We seem to forget how a simple card game can bring so much joy to an adult as well as a child.