“Three  Good Childhood Experiences That Influenced My Choices as an Adult,” by Joan Y. Edwards

There are many experiences in life that influence your choices afterwards. Your childhood experiences seem to have a really great impact on the choices you make as an adult. Tom Boya, a longtime subscriber asked me to write a post about that. So today, in honor of Tom’s request, I am sharing three experiences I had as a child that made a definite impact on my choices as an adult.

 

1. 1945 – Spent all my money on a gift

In 1945, when I was five, my sister, Judith and I went to the store to buy Mother a gift for Mother’s Day.  I had saved up $5.00. That was a lot of money. I bought her lipstick, rouge, and a mirror. It used all my money. I didn’t have any left. I gave Mother her gifts and she was very excited and pleased with them. She found me crying later in the afternoon.

     “What’s wrong, Joan? Why are you crying?
“I don’t have any more money.”
“Why not?”
“I spent it for your gift.”
Mother looked at me. She said, “You can take it back and get your money back.”
“OH, NO, Mother. I want you to have the lipstick, the rouge, and the mirror.”
Mother looked at me and thought and thought. She smiled, “Next time,  don’t spend all of your money on a gift. Save a little for yourself.”
I looked at her and smiled. “That’s a good idea.”

So I remembered that. To this day,  I make sure I have enough to pay all my bills and a little to save for myself, before I use money for a gift for others.

2. 1952 – Being good at entertaining children at birthday parties

Our family didn’t hire anyone to come in to entertain us. We had to furnish our own entertainment. We loved it. We wrote and acted out plays. We sang songs. We played softball in the field next door. We ate separate from the adults at family gatherings. We usually put on a performance for the adults.

Fast forward to a lady transporting me to a doctor’s appointment when I was 12.  She was having her daughter’s fourth birthday party with 10 children and didn’t know what to do to entertain them. I said to myself, “What?” I couldn’t believe it. I told her. I can help entertain your daughter and her friends. Easy,  So I did. She even paid me. We played tag, hide and go seek, and pin the tail on the donkey. We made up a short play, sang funny songs, and  sang “Happy Birthday.”

That was one of the experiences that made me decide to become a teacher.  My experiences as a teacher didn’t always turn out like this party.  But I learned from them. I did my best to share my love of learning to help others learn and have fun doing it.

3. 1952 Chosen to lead a Charm workshop for Camp Fire Girls

My mother was a Campfire Girl Group leader. She taught us to cook a simple one layer coffee cake. I never camped overnight. However, we had a daytime Saturday retreat with workshops at a camp council gathering in Washington, DC when I was in sixth grade. Its purpose was to help us become ladies as well as campers. When I found out that I had been chosen to lead a workshop about Charm. I was surprised and filled with immense happiness. I had to use the dictionary to find out what charm was.  Everyone had a good time and all of us learned about how to charming. To me, being charming means caring about the people around you.

I understand that many life experiences as a child have negative influences on us. I decided to focus on the positive ones that make me grateful.

Please share your life experiences that influenced your choices as an adult with us in the comment area. My readers and subscribers leave absolutely great advice and great stories in the comment area. If you would like for me to write an article on a particular topic, please let me know.

 

Resources

The Psychpractice.com. “How Your Childhood Affects You in Adulthood:” https://thepsychpractice.com/plog/2018/3/28/how-your-childhood-affects-you-in-adulthood

“Effects of positive and negative childhood experiences on adult family health:” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8022401/

“7 Signs You Grew Up As An Overly Independent Child — And It’s Affecting You Now:” https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/7-signs-grew-overly-independent-163004451.html

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