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| Mom and Dad, Edith & Bill Mossner. Christmas Eve 2011 dwm photo |
That was the 40th topic posed by Story Worth's question toaster.
The first lesson I remember was putting things away properly.
It was our first spring in the house on Forest Park Boulevard and I forgot to bring in the baseball glove I was using in a game behind our house.
It wasn't an ordinary glove, it belonged to my grandfather who played college ball on a Concordia College team in the 1920s. When it was found the next morning, it was my job to treat it with lanolin.
I sat for a long time at the kitchen table rubbing the glove. I don't know if I 'saved' the glove from an early end, but the message was received.
Another long-lasting lesson came from mom. I don't know how old I was, but I think I was 10 or younger. It was laundry day and she had enough.
"David." she said, because until I was well into my 40s she didn't call me Dave, since, she told me, that wasn't the name she gave me, "when you throw your clothes in the hamper don't leave them inside out."
Lesson learned. To this day I pull out shirt sleeves and reverse socks before throwing them in the laundry basket. I do a share of the laundry and can tell you it makes a difference when the clothes are right-side out.
The laundry lesson and a similar one about making my bed after getting up served me well. Plus, as I've heard more than one motivational speaker say, is if you make your bed first thing in the morning, you already have one completed task each day.
There were other lessons I learned by example.
In addition to learning how they valued their faith and the importance of education; I learned about hard-work and showing up on time.
If the church you attend is like the ones we've attended the past 15 years, you know that 90% of the congregation arrives less than 5 minutes before the service begins. Mom, Dad and I were in the pew at least 15 minutes in advance. Being early for an appointment is a sign of respect and doesn't make the person you're meeting wait.
One lesson I returned to later in life was the importance of saying thank you. Every kid remembers being forced to sit down after Christmas, birthday, or special occasion to write a thank you note to everyone who sent you a gift or cash. It wasn't a lot of fun sitting at the table writing those notes, but I recognized later a few minutes writing a note said thank you in a way an email never could.
There is a TV commercial running in 2021 that laughingly mocks the way people in their 20s and 30s turn into their parents when they purchase that brand of home or car insurance.
It seems to me when I've caught myself acting as I knew my parents did in similar situations, I recognize one more lesson they taught successfully.
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