We would travel half an hour to Rotorua, once a fortnight to do our grocery shopping when the girls were small. It was the early days of 'Pak n Save' when you had to mark your own prices on each item with a felt pen, as well as pack your own groceries.We were growing a young family on a budget - but we were still able to make way for a few little treats for the kids. The one thing we treated ourselves with was a packet of Arnott's Mint Slice Biscuits and the way we kept them for ourselves was to tell the kids that they were 'Adult Biscuits'. For a long time they never questioned that. They were just for Mum and Dad.
So when we had our family weekend at Kawhia recently - without a word to each other on the topic - we managed to amass a double pack and 3 singles of 'Adult Biscuits'. We all laughed about it. The girls being adults now too - we all enjoy a 'Mint Slice' but more than that - it's one of the memories that has become a tradition. Traditions link a family together.
Family memories and traditions can be based on the simplest and funniest things. We also played the customary game of Phase 10, 500 and Scattergories. 500 is something that my Darling Man's family liked to play and now our family is getting the hang of it. Scattergories is a more recent addition that we play girls against guys. The guitar was played and all manner of songs were sung along with a some worship songs. A couple of fish were caught - it wasn't the best weekend for the fish but it didn't matter - we still all got a wee morsel of fresh fish with our dinner on Saturday night! Shared experiences, 'knowing' and being known - these are the things that build intimacy in family life.
Since we stayed an extra night we took home what remained of the food and amongst it was a packet of Mint Slices. We have been enjoying one after our dinner this week- it's been a nice way of savoring the memories of a lovely family weekend!
Haha cool post Ma. I totally didn't know you used to have to mark your own groceries! Very interesting. Love ya, E
ReplyDeleteSo you could like LIE and make them all cheaper than they actually were?
ReplyDeleteNot really because that was in the days when the checkout operators 'knew' the prices of things as part of their job. Well, they had a pretty good idea anyway. There was no electronic scanning either, they had to manually punch the prices into the till/cash register. Love you x
ReplyDeletemmmm,I remember those days well...I was one of the checkout operaters!! at woolworths, 35 years ago!!! AND you had to be able to sort the change out in your head!!cuzzy K
ReplyDeleteWoh brilliant cuzzy K! Thanks for sharing your experience!!!! I had to think really hard about it and confer with Pete on the matter! We are living legends girl!!!!
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