When I was a kid in the 70s with my brother and sister, the Halloween costumes available were cheap, store-bought plastic masks. They came with a cheap, plastic suit. The costumes were hard to see and move in and did not look very good.
But, not in my household.
When my mom would asks us what we wanted to be for Halloween, she would then say, “Well, get to work.”
We made our own costumes. A bandana, an eyepatch made from string and black construction paper and a sword made from a board wrapped in foil made the perfect pirate costume.
Pizza was always homemade, boxes were repurposed and clothes were often sewn together by my single mother raising us by herself.
“Everything is better when you make it yourself,” my mother would always say.
This mantra came to life as much a need to save money as it did from my mother’s back to the basics approach to parenting. We were really poor.
Most of our clothes were hand-me-downs or bought in a thrift store. If they tore or needed to be let in or out, she would do it herself.
The dresses she wore daily as a teacher were all handmade.
When something broke, you fixed yourself. If you couldn’t fix it, it often stayed broken.
Holes in shoes were mended with duct tape. Stains on carpet that couldn’t be removed were ignored.
We watched only the bottom half of television shows for a couple of years when a picture tube went out on our old television.
You had to remember to rattle the handle of the leaky toilet or in would run continuously.
In the winter, a blanket was hung over a broken or cracked window to keep as much as the cold out as we could. It didn’t always work. I can remember some cold winters.
But still, a pride in doing something yourself and getting by with less was instilled.
When I got old enough to own my own vehicle, I worked a deal with the man across the street. He would help me maintain and fix my truck and I would help him with his firewood business.
The only concession that he made was that I had to fix my truck with him. He wanted to teach me to do it for myself. That wasn’t a problem; I was eager to learn. My mother had taught me the power in knowing how to do things yourself.
I have done my best to teach my six year old daughter some of those values. The difference is that we are a lot better off than I was as a child.
My daughter does have new clothes and the latest toys. She is never cold during winter nights. She has her choice of televisions to stream the latest movies on and plumbers are called in when the problem is too great for me to handle.
But, one summer, my daughter and I grew our own tomatoes even though it was cheaper to buy them in the store.
We often make homemade cookies instead of buying them at the store. We have baked bread from scratch.
When we play together, a box can be a castle and paper towel roll a trumpet.
I patiently answer her questions as she helps me make pancakes, fix the car, build a doghouse or mend a leaky toilet.
She is learning to take pride in doing things herself.
I can’t wait for the day I hear her tell her daughter, everything is better when you make yourself.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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