FAMILY ODDITIES
All families have their own dances, their own way of doing things, their own dysfunctions, etc...
I will never forget when my husband was a resident director (RD) at a Christian college. As an RD, he was responsible for hiring resident assistants (RA'S). Part of the job of an RD is to meet with the RA's, train them, find out what was going on in their halls, discipline students and all that other good stuff. Paul had great RA's. We loved them and are still good friends with a lot of them. When any of these guys would start dating a girl and think maybe she was "the one", we would get all excited for them. These guys were like our little brothers.
One of Paul's RA's, Aaron, started dating a girl and it started moving in the serious direction. So, he went several hundred miles away with her one weekend to meet her family. On Saturday morning, they got up and they were getting ready to eat breakfast, cinnamon rolls. All of a sudden, this girl Aaron is getting really serious with, Teressa, asked her brother to pass the Velveeta Cheese. Teressa takes a knife, cuts a hunk of the cheese off, and puts it on her cinnamon roll. The rest of the family proceeded to do the exact same thing.
Aaron was speechless. And, if you know Aaron, speechless for him was/is a big deal. He had a very difficult time getting over the cinnamon roll topped with Velveeta cheese. But, in the end, he still married Teressa. But, I am pretty sure they are still divided on this cheesy cinnamon roll topic:-)
In case you don't know, we are involved with a ministry to college students. Therefore, we are on our second college grad who needed a place to live after college so she could do a dietetic internship at a hospital near our house. Darja lives with us know.
Darja spent a couple of years prior to this year getting to know our family because she was involved in our ministry. I am sure Darja thought she knew us. But, you get to know people on a whole new level when you live with them.
At about the beginning of February, Darja kinda sheepishly said to me, "So.... do you guys celebrate birthdays around here?"
It was a very fair question. Darja had lived with us since the end of August and here it was February. She's living in a house full of people and not once had there been a birthday celebration. I guess that would seem kinda odd.
It cracked me up how odd that must have seemed to her. I told her 3 of the children have birthdays in May. May 2, 20 and 29. These are the children that I have given birth to which leads to a whole new discussion on how and why they are all in the same month. Really none of any one's business.... haha!
Anyway, Darja, get ready! We are headed into one birthday party after another starting today, April 7.
Today is Paul's birthday! Happy birthday honey! I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father for my children! You are truly a gift and a blessing to me.
By the way, my birthday is August 29 and Emme's in August 30. At lease it was Aug 30 in China. Since China is 12 hours ahead of us, maybe on USA time, she was really born on Aug 29!?
If someone were to spend time in your house with your family, what would they think odd?
5 comments:
Odd? I am never odd. My family is never odd. We are 100% serious, normal people in every respect. Until you meet us.
Have you ever checked out www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com ? It is a weekly photo contest. You know, seems how you are not in the least competitive and your photos are definatly not awesome, you probably should not go there and check it out...happy winning :o)
Well, some may find it odd that my family enjoys watching Brady Bunch episodes together. Cheesy, I know. Also,I still have to wipe my 6 year olds' bottom... he refuses, I think for fear that he may accidentally get some on his hands. I am hoping he works that one out before 1st grade.
Other than that, we're totally normal!(:
Did you just want the one or two MAJOR oddities, or did you want me to compile the whole list - because it will go on and on and on.
Just listing the two top oddities in my family I would have to say:
#1 - There are 4 humans in this house (2 adults, 2 children) - and we have 6 (yes, I said 6) animals - 3 dogs and 3 cats. Not only is that considered odd, it can also be classified as crazy. (I'm OK with that.)
#2 - We NEVER eat at a dining room table. I know that sounds a bit dysfunctional, but it's really not as bad as it sounds! We eat dinner together every night - it just happens to be in the living room, on TV trays, sometimes while watching reruns of some sort. We have a great time. And we're bonding, which is important, right? When we have company for dinner (which is very rare), they do have a tendency to be a bit confused when we start pulling out the TV trays.
When I was growing up we would eat potato chips with our pizza. My husband thinks that's weird, but for me, pizza with potato chips are like hamburgers and french fries. They just go together!
I think the oddities in any family are wonderful - it's what makes us unique and what can sometimes turn into a family tradition.
OH MY! I can't believe out of all of the words that I don't like, I just had to pick "party of 6"! I am so glad that you realized that I didn't know your email address. I am so glad that I stumbled onto your blog via Sharla's blog. It is one of my favorites!
Aaron here...the one who married the quirky girl and into the family! I guess the cheese on cinnamon roll thing is Sweedish...some people up in Chicago practice the same thing so I guess she's not the only one. While I don't do the processed cheese thing, I don't mind a slice of cheddar over a sticky bun. If you haven't tried it, you can't say it's gross. So try it...you never know.
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