What?! Everyone doesn’t roll Easter eggs down a hill?

This is a list I did in Notes on Facebook about 4 years ago.  But since nobody would ever even consider looking under notes, I thought I my blog would be a better place for it.  So, you may have already read this depending on how long you've been close to me.  But I enjoyed reading it again, so you may too.  And it has been a while since I've posted anything but I have a one year old on my lap, so not going to do much more today.

Okay. This is essentially a list of things from growing up that I just thought were normal, and came to find out later that they were not. Don’t get me wrong. I still think my childhood was quite normal and well-adjusted. Like any of you, there are just things that I look back on and smile that they were part of my childhood.

1. Every morning we would rummage through a laundry basket that contained every clean sock of every family member in the house, matched or not. Usually none were matched up prior to the rummage. It seriously occupied a good part of the morning. I don’t think it even crossed my mind that it would be easier to actually match the socks coming out of the dryer and put them in a drawer. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that I wear flip-flops always now.
2. For most of my childhood, we had no tv. At one point, some neighbors gave us a tiny black and white tv because they felt sorry for us and didn’t realize that my parents did it on purpose, not because they were poor. But I brought it back to them after a few months when my mom started watching soap operas, which I thought was the epitome of evil at the time. I really didn’t mind not having a tv growing up except if we had school assignments that included watching news or something. I remember on at least one occasion going to Sears, and completing a homework assignment in the electronics department.
3. We moved a lot. And my dad was not in the military. I am so grateful for the many experiences that I had because of the places I lived and the people I met. But the gypsy in me is hard to shake. In my lifetime of 29 years, the longest I’ve lived in one house is 4 years. And I think I have lived in 17 different homes, 9 different cities/towns. The fact that I have lived in Morro Bay for 3 ½ years really says a lot. *These numbers have changed in the last few years, but I already did a post about this, so I'm not going to change it.
4. My parents never fight. Really, ever. I know it’s weird, and super cool.
5. We had an insane number of holiday traditions. My favorite is probably rolling Easter eggs down a hill every Easter. I have forced many a relative, friend, or college roommate to do it with me.
6. My dad really loves/loved his work. Not like he tried to tell himself it was super cool so that he wouldn’t be unhappy. I didn’t realize that as Dylan says, “It’s not supposed to be fun. That’s why they pay you” was a more typical attitude. And as little girls we would fight over who would get to go to work with my dad on Saturdays.
7. My mom can find anything. I really did think that moms just come equipped with this ability, and was sorely disappointed when I came to find out my two-year old was better at finding things than me.
8. My dad woke us up at like 6 am for “lessons” during the summer. Like one day we would learn about famous pieces of art, and another day we would eat cookies that were made to simulate the three different rock types. We loved it so much. I think a lot of the love came from how interesting my dad would make it.
9. We rode the public bus by ourselves to and from school in center city Philadelphia. It was like a half hour ride if I remember right. And on the way home included a transfer. And I was the oldest of three girls at 9 years old. I have many colorful memories associated with this. Like the bus driver who closed the door on my little 5-year-old sister Katie and then started driving. And later on in the ride, he yelled at a blind person for missing their stop. Really. I am just amazed that nothing bad ever happened to us. I am sure we had many people watching over us that we were not even aware of.
10. My mom was pregnant at my wedding. Okay. That one doesn’t really count because I knew it was unique at the time, and I wasn’t a child. But it does make me smile.

Another thing that intrigues me is that we really never ate at restaurants growing up.  We would eat at fast food restaurants if we were driving across the country, and we had the several months where we thought we were in heaven because we got to be secret shoppers of sorts at Denny's.  But I really have absolutely no memory of ever eating out otherwise until I was in high school.  I realize that was because we were being frugile, but it really is quite remarkable to me now that I am a mom that my mom must have cooked dinner and made lunch basically every day.  Kudos.