Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
Although we were never able to venture too far from home (no trips abroad), some of my fondest memories growing up were travel-related. You know, good old road trips and whatnot.
I grew up in a northern Ontario town that was only a short hop over to the US border. We would spend many of our travel dollars (plug your ears, Canadians) in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. There were plenty of adventures, from throwing up on rides at Valleyfair amusement park near Minneapolis, to the wild (and might I say, slightly strange) world of Wisconsin Dells to all manner of museums and live shows. From the schmaltzy to the cultural, we didn’t shy away from any opportunity for fun.
Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
I know, I know, you’re trying to forget the holidays now that the “real world” catches back up with us and things like work and school and whatnot kick us in the January pants.
But indulge me just a moment, thinking back a little bit to the last few weeks. I didn’t get the chance to really reflect on some of the more poignant moments of the holidays, like traditions. You know, the serving of a particular food or the unpacking and placing of a special item on display. Often what can make the holidays feel comforting are these moments of familiarity.
Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
With the holiday season closing in quickly, it’s time for the annual digging out of our favourite holiday music (Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Sufjan Stevens…) and movies (White Christmas, Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation… ). There are also the usual suspects from television of yesteryear, like A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch.
But a series of shows that the holiday season is simply not the same without includes those classic Rankin-Bass gems: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Little Drummer Boy and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I remember each December frantically scouring the TV Guide to track down the days and times when they would air. There were no DVDs or PVRs or even VHS tapes back then. You wanted to watch a show, you had to find out when it was on and make yourself available.Read more...
Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
Family is pretty important to us. Even though most of our extended family is far away, we make extra efforts to keep in touch. This is particularly important when it comes to grandparents.
Grandparents (and great-grandparents and beyond) are the “old school” messengers of familial goodness. For us, it’s not just the wisdom and perspective they can share, it’s the stories and the connections to a disappearing past. Heck, it’s the cool and wonderful quirks we discover in those stories, too. Our grandparents were hilarious and silly and creative and fascinating! Who knew?
As a kid, I loved spending time with my grandparents. Like, really loved it. I was fortunate to have them around and that they, too, enjoyed having me around. Looking back, I have a strange mix of things that stand out in my memories of them. Read more...
Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
As Halloween draws close, we’ve been pulling out lots of spooky things in the house: the window decorations, the gauzy spiderweb stuff, pieces of old costumes that are difficult to distinguish…
We also find ourselves getting in the mood by watching old creepy videos, like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which is one of the kids’ favourites. But we stumbled upon a show that I used to be “glued to the tube” to and that very few of my friends really “got”: The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Remember it?
The kids are enamoured. They make me crank it up to the Wolfman’s psychedelic dance routines. They giggle hysterically at Grizelda, The Ghastly Gourmet. They recognize (from “Thriller”, of course) – and are totally freaked out by – Vincent Price and his spoooooooky tales. Read more...
Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
I’m all for finding new ways to use old stuff. Heck, I’m all for using old stuff in old ways, too. Although my cassettes aren’t really sounding as good as they once did.
What I had always wondered, though, was if my kids would ever be interested in my old clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t actually have much by way of clothing from my childhood, but a few treasured pieces do remain. Hey, if fashion is cyclical, these old threads should have come around at least once or twice since I wore them.
Now I used to dress up in my grandmum’s old clothing and it was much like costuming. Like Mr. Dress Up’s infamous tickle trunk. It was great fun. But when I borrowed my mom’s clothes, I had thought I was pretty cool. It wasn’t about dressing up like Ginger from Gilligan’s Island (and no, my Grandmum didn’t dress like that…that I’m aware of) but rather real, “going out in public” kinds of dressing up. Read more...
Cynthia Kinnunen blogs about sharing stuff from your childhood with your kids
Camping with the kids. It can be a little like ripping out your fingernails if you don’t come prepared. But if you give some thought to where you’re headed, who you’re going with and that you’ve packed most of the right things (including some extra sanity), it can actually be a lot of fun.
We took our kids camping again this past weekend. While we visit the inlaws’ cottage several times per year, we only end up camping about once each summer these days. Know why? Because we still have three kids under 9 and we’re not total gluttons for punishment. Read more...
