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For those of you who are parents, what were your favorite experiences/things to share with your children? For those of you who aren't, what are your most meaningful memories of things your parents shared with you?
I'm thinking of books/movies/tv shows, camping trips, activities, sports, video/board games, puzzles, family stories, hobbies - anything you can think of that was meaningful.
The word meaningful bears a heavy load, and I hesitate to mention what comes to mind as the activities seem so trite. I'll mention them anyway.
Movies. My mom made some disastrous choices in taking me to films. JAWS was released the year I turned seven, and for reasons I cannot fathom even in hindsight, she took us to see it. Me, at seven, watching that film. It was of course bad enough that you saw the commercial advertisements on television constantly that summer and felt a creeping horror at what might be contained in the film. To actually have to sit in a darkened theater and behold it, then be expected, after the lights went up ( and yes, no one moved until the credits had finished and the buoy raft successfully reached the beach) to carry on with normal life, well. It was by far one of the most vivid memories of moviegoing youth. I feared swimming even in pools for years, as cliched as that undoubtedly sounds.
But she did take us to happy films. I saw Star Wars with her and Superman: The Movie, both of which were very memorable experiences for reasons I will not bore you with here.
Beach Trips. This may sound ironic on the heels of my story about watching JAWS, but we used to rent a cabin every year on the white sandy dunes on the Gulf of Mexico. My best memories are before the first big hurricane of those years (Fredric) which wiped clean the entirety of cabins in the area we had frequented (these were rebuilt, along with the first of what were to be many condominium towers along the coast. It was better before.) I have stores of memories about the beach trips, including fishing off the pier withy dad, eating lots of fried food with hushpuppies, ranging up and down the sea reed dunes, and sitting around on the deck putting together jigsaw puzzles.
These were days before smartphones and the net, when there were often vast stretches of unstructured time not to be filled with staring at electronics (as I am doing now). Games, short of solitaire, were played as a family. It was a different time.
As it happens I am also a parent. My boys are still young but getting less young every day. I have tried, before they got their phones, to establish connections via movies (It's easier now with streaming services, if very different). And bicycle rides, puzzles, board games (which they are still keen to if we can get everyone involved) and beachcombing. Trying to hit the high points. But I have no idea if what resonated or resonates for me will for them.
I also showed my youngest son JAWS.
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