Up Hill Both Ways in the Snow

I know we've all heard those stories from our parents. How hard they worked and how easy we all have it. Right? Yeah, well I was just pondering just that scenario this morning as I watched my son balk at the fact that I wanted him to be out of bed by 10:00 a.m. each morning and get some school work complete. Where did he get this attitude anyway? BOTH of his parents are and always have been hard working individuals. No lie. Okay, to bore you to tears, here's my "up hill both ways in the snow" story.

My mom was a hard working single mom. She raised us kids and provided a wonderful ranch for us to grow up on complete with my beloved horses (which to this day I'm insanely addicted to). When I was ready to drive a car "your's truly" was going to have to get a job and support that new obsession of mine. So I got a job at a donut shop then later upgraded to the restaurant. So, if you know anything about me, you'll know that just working 20 hours a week or so was just not going to cut the mustard. Nope, no way! I ended up working 40 hours + per week on the graveyard shift, got to school by 8:00 am, finished school at 3 and was home for some chores, horse bonding time and then off to bed so that I could be up at 9:00 P.m. and back at work by 10. I typed for the school newspaper so I had to be at school at 8 and then classes began at like 8:45. IF I had everything in order, I could squeeze a wee bit of homework in before school or on my break at work.

When I was 18 and moved out on my own (yes, we did do that back then - nobody lived with the rents for like fricken for EVER!), I ended up landing a day shift at the restaurant and decided that I could now take on MORE! I took a swing shift job dispatching tow trucks and then picked up a grave shift dispatching ambulances. Fortunately, my jobs had different days off so that I could sleep some times when I had an off shift. There were times, however, that I worked 48 hours straight through. I was exhausted and really hated life (I regret all of this but it's just indicative of my personality).

Would I recommend this regimen for any of my children? Heck no! In fact, I've always said that I wanted my children to enjoy high school and focus on getting great grades. I discouraged them from working while they were in school. They all ended up getting part time jobs to have some "change to jingle in their jeans" (a saying my mom used).

My mom has often said over the years that there were some things that she would have done different if she could do the parenting gig over again. I'm sure discouraging me (or possible prohibiting me) from working so much would have been one of them. She has said in the years since my high school time, when I mentioned that I almost dropped out of high school because i was so overwhelmed, that she is surprised that I didn't. Boy am I glad that I stuck it out!

I do appreciate all the pushing my mom did when I was growing up. It has molded me into a hard working individual that doesn't expect a free ride. I enjoy knowing that what we have is the result of my husband (and myself) working our tails off.