What are your fond memories with your parents/guardians?

I'm in a reminiscent mood and thinking about some traditions I would like to start with DD and DS's. I have been trying to think of some of my good times I have had with my mum. I can think of little things I did with my dad and brothers, like picking veggies in the garden with dad, chasing the chooks back into their house after they had a run around with dad and the dog (lol!!), coming out in the middle of the night and sleeping in front of the gas heater on really cold nights snuggled with one of my brothers, building book castles out of golden books with my other brother. Swimming in the surf with dad. Snuggling with dad on the lounge on weekend arvos to sleep...other little things too.
But when it comes to mum, well...I have a blank. I can't really think of anything. We never coslept. I don't remember bathing with her, or ever even seeing her naked. She hates people touching her hair or giving her massages....I don't remember her doing my nails. We didn't go out to lunch or dinner at a cafe or restaurant. We haven't ever even had a drink together as adults and gotten tipsy. It makes me really sad that I have either blocked out these memories (and why would I do that??) or that I don't remember because I don't have any. Was my mum really that absent of a parent and it's not just me making our relationshinp so strained...?? (A whole different thread!)
So what are your lovely little memories with your family? Have you continued those little traditions?

I used to snuggle in bed with mum on a sat night eating chocolate & chips, watching movies while dad watched the footy, I loved this so much & I still miss just hanging out with my mum like that.
I used to go collecting wood & pine cones with dad in winter & in summer I loved swimming in the pool with him. He used to also spend ages looking for bugs with me :)

I remember when Mum and Dad had guests round, we were all (me, Sis, friends' children) sent to my room to snuggle up in the double bed and watch TV (my bedroom doubled as the guest room: if people came to stay I bunked in with my sister). I recall one night Mum decided to tell us to watch a Frankie Howerd night because the chap was pretty funny. He was. She walked in halfway through the "up Pompeii" film and turned the TV off - all through school, we giggled about Up Pompeii.

I make sure when Liebs does late night films, I watch them with him. Those nights were fun but we so rarely did them with Mum (I can remember two occasions, both when I was 7), so I make sure I do them with Liebs.

I can't remember doing things with Mum that she didn't criticise me for - we did painting, but I was dreadful at it, so it isn't a fond memory. DH loved doing arty stuff with his mum, but he didn't get told off for not doing it well. (We're buying more making stuff today.) I remember she used to bring work home and let me help with the big calculator that printed out every sum on till receipt paper - that was cool. She always let me have my friends sleep over whenever I wanted too.

My Mum and I used to brush each others hair, I loved it.
My Dad before he had an Accquired Brain Injury through a car accident was a great Dad, he used to take me to the local pub (we lived in a small town) and buy me a raspberry lemonade and bag of Salt and Vinegar chips, usually after my bath while I was in Pj's and Dressing Gown :lol:

Babluv: We used to go pine coning as well, it was a big family thing to do for the winter.

mum used to do my hair for me every day before school, until I was in about year 7 or so. and sometimes after school, I'd climb up onto her lap (even when I was way too big) for a snuggle, and to tell her about my day.

dad and I are both big thinkers, and so we would lie awake on my bed for hours talking ... mum used to get seriously peed off about that sometimes! particularly when it was 2, 3, 4 hours after my bedtime, and dad and I were still discussing whatever was on my mind, and she was ready for them to go to bed!!

and bike rides with dad and my siblings.

farm stays (can you still do those?) and beach trips.

those are the main standouts.

my parents were non-affectionate, only communicated by arguing/being violent, and i spent my childhood hiding from them, escaping reality by reading books, because being around them, meant bad things. I have no desire to repeat any of their behaviours with my child. My parents gave me a template of "what NOT to do" to your children.

My fondest memory as a child, is spending time with the school librarian, the girl guide leader, the sunday school teacher, adults i felt safe with.

Heather, it is sad that your dad got ABI. It sounds like it changed him. But he sounds like an awesome dad before that. I remember going to the pub with dad occaisionally too, lol. He used to get me to choose horses for him at the TAB too!

Awww, Gigi, that's really sad. I'm so sorry you had it tough when you were young.


Some lovely memories everyone! Thankyou all for sharing. Making me all warm and fuzzy. And making me think about what I want my kids to remember about me when they're adults!

My biggest memory of mum is of sitting on a chair listening to her tell me stories about just stuff. Her stories would go on for EVER and be the "he said, she said" type but I loved them. Also lots of cuddles, walking hand in hand to the shops. Her warming my socks and slippers for me in front of the fire so they'd be warm when I got home from school. Not so many of dad except going to the soccer with him when I was much older.

I'm slowly trying to introduce little things that I hope DD1 (and later DD2) will remember. I make an effort to make sure DD1 and I go out just the two of us for a babycino and a chat. Also, every Friday night we have "special movie night" - her choice and we have hot chocolate and marshmellows and she gets to sleep with me in my bed. We also do long, long shnuggles with the girls every morning in our bed (at least half an hour).

I hope she'll remember going pine cone collecting with DP, bike riding and kite-flying as they do that quite a bit.

I won't talk about my father, because that's less than fun.

But my mum - my best memories of her were days spent cooking for the workmen's lunches on the farm (she taught me to bake so many tasty naughty things), going out to the paddocks to do the sheep and how much she hated cleaning the troughs, Mum letting me sneak sips from her glass of wine during parties and board game nights with the whole family (aunties and uncles plus friends and their families) while on holidays and always wanting to be on Mum's team because she knew lots and usually won.

I love remembering the big Xmas party my dads work held every year, there were rides and clowns and Santa and everything... Tons of other kids to play with and mum and dad got to sit on the lawn and chill out with other employees families knowing us kids were taking care of each other. I'm very excited that my dh now works for that same company, I can give DD the same fond memories :D

Great topic by the way :)