I'm Blessed!

I often think how incredibly lucky I am, or rather, blessed, that I can do so many things, some well and some not so well, others not at all, but for the most part I consider myself a pretty creative gal.

I think it all came from the amazing strong women in my family, women who have fought the odds and have struggled through most of their lives but always with a smile on their faces, women who knit and who crochet, who cook and who bake, who sew and who darn, who sing and who talk and have this intense love for the family and the Lord. Ahhh would it not be for their faith, I don't know where they or ME would be today.

After all anything that happens to your family happens to you too right? It's all a big circle and when you do something it tends to reverberate and send off all these little waves that affect all the members of the family.

So when I think about my childhood and I think about the things I've learned, I smile and I am overwhelmed with love and with pride and ever so thankful that I had the role models to teach me how to be a woman, how to take care of a home, how to be a wife and how to be a mother. All things that I could have learned by myself, but it makes it that much more poignant when it's been passed down from generation to generation....when you have a problem or a question and you know that no matter who you ask they will have an answer and not just one that they've heard somewhere, it's something they've learned through their years of life experience and it's advice that comes from "being there and doing that".

As I sit today and watch my 9 year old old start to turn into a young woman, I often wonder just how she'll turn out, will I have the same strength and courage that my greatgrandmother, grandmothers, mother and stepmother had, will I know how to answer her and give her the guidance she needs in her life?

I think the answer is yes, because I was taught by the best so how can I not know how to pass that on to Jasmine?

What got me thinking about all this is the fact that while watching some of the young girls around here, it struck me how little they knew about cooking or cleaning, most of them don't even want to know how to do these things, they laugh it off and say things like "we can just go out to eat everyday"....or "that's why I plan on living near my parents so my mom will do my laundry".

I would rather my daughter was prepared and knew how to do everything, obviously doesn't mean she will like it, chances are she'll probably turn her nose up at ironing, scrubbing toilets and dishes, but I want her to have the tools she needs to go out there on her own and know that if mom is not around, she can take care of herself, at least make a meal and have clean clothes. That's a starting point.

But as I was saying, I'm blessed, blessed because thankfully my daughter shows an interest in some of the things, she wants to cook and she loves cleaning (I did too until it became a daily thing, now not so much).
So I'm showing her everything I can and hope that one day, she may come to feel the same way I do about the wonderful women in my family.

I love you Bio, Avo Jacinta, Avo Odete, Mae and Nela!


I leave you with a question: Are you planning on teaching your daughters everything you know, or do you want to leave it up to them whether they want to learn or not?