Memory Making Mom

I dropped out of the homeschool mom’s book club. The meeting time conflicted with our family’s evening routine. Even though the book club was only once a month, I didn’t want to give up our evening routine. It’s too important. It’s long, and it’s time consuming, and it’s when we create our family culture of shared stories, devotions, poems, and prayers.

When I was in graduate school I did a lot of studying. One of my professors noted that the human brain remembers best whatever goes in it right before a person goes to sleep. To study most effectively, they suggested that we study the most difficult material before going to bed. I took this advice to heart, and I’ve tried to ensure that the content right before bed is what I want to stick in my kiddos brains. So, family evening time vs. mom’s book club wasn’t much of a fight.

I’m still plugging away at reading some books though! This one was quite good. Here are some of my favorite quotes from it:

“Memory Making Mom: Building Traditions That Breathe Life Into Your Home” by Jessica Smartt

• “Motherhood angst usually means I’ve lost my way somehow – forgotten or stopped doing some of the rituals that mean the most to our family. And so we bring them back.” (pg 12)
• “Food has great power to heal, to minister, to love, and to create memories that last.” (pg 48)
• “Jesus knew it. On His last evening with His disciples, He didn’t take them to the temple to squeeze in one last reading of the Torah. He didn’t do one final whirlwind miracle healing tour. No, on Jesus’ last evening with His friends, they ate dinner. A reclining, savoring sort of dinner (Luke 22:7-39).” (pg 52)
• “Whenever I feel like I need to do something big to serve, I’m reminded that we can begin right where we are by loving those whom God has placed in our path already.” (pg 111)
• “I wish I could tell you that our marriage traditions involve rock climbing and running marathons together. We are still sort of in the stage where life itself feels like its own version of mountains and marathons, so our traditions are lame and involve takeout Mexican food and watching our special show together every night.” (pg 135)
• “Do not feel like you are the one who must single-handily produce the family fun. Let your kids help you, especially when you are overwhelmed.” (pg 148)
• “Faith makes the rest of our life make sense. It guides everything else.” (pg 173)

• “What a terrific comfort to know that while we fall short as parents, Christ will never fail them.” (pg 184)
• “May we parent with deep conviction to steward their little hearts well, but may we know even more deeply that it is God who holds them in the palm of His hand.” (pg 184)

When we lost our home in the 2018 Paradise Camp Fire it became crystal clear how important our family traditions were. Some things were lost forever. But, we were in the middle of reading the 9 book “Little House on the Prairie” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and I bought it immediately after we knew our house was gone. We picked up right where we left off in the stories. We could read aloud in a hotel room, a friend’s basement, or an RV almost just as well as our living room couch, albeit not quite as cozy. We could also make our special Friday night Sabbath diner of pasta, French bread and salad almost anywhere we were staying. The same is true for Sabbath morning pancakes. These traditions that weren’t lost in the fire, became super glue to hold our faith and our spirits together.

🩵 What is your favorite family tradition?