What’s important to pass on to your children?

June 26th, 2009, 12:51 pm · 6 Comments · posted by Roxanne Hack, staff writer

Music is a big deal in my little, nontraditional family.

I grew up with a great appreciation for all genres. (And I mean all of them … none of this “I love alllll music — except country” business so many people throw around.) My favorite car game is to go from station to station to see how many songs I can sing along to in a row.

So it made sense that I would eventually have a child with a pop music critic so obsessed with music, he stays up until 4 a.m. to write 25-song salutes (and probably still went to bed with his iPod on).

Our love of music is one of the things that will always connect us, and it’s also something so important to us, that there’s no way we won’t try our very best to pass it on to our son. We’re both so giddy over the thought of being able to share our passion with him that we can hardly wait. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if my little monster’s father whispers random trivia into his ear as he lulls him to sleep, hoping the facts will absorb.

What are some of the things you want to pass on to your kids? Passions, hobbies, skills? And what will you do to try to make it happen?

Read more about me and my monster:

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jflores says:

June 26, 2009 at 1:58 pm

you and ben? that’s news to me!

Samantha says:

June 26, 2009 at 2:24 pm

I was a dancer for many many years. Tranined in tap, jazz and ballet. It helped me develop poise and grace. I really want my daughter to be able to enjoy dance when she is a bit older.

Julie Scott says:

June 26, 2009 at 3:16 pm

With an aunt who is a professional dancer, another aunt who works in computer engineering, a dad who’s still trying to make it as a freelance writer, a mom who does occasional freelance editing, was once in a rock band, and competed with both the drama club and choir in high school, a great-grandmother who was a professional chef… well, I’ve got more I want to pass on to her than I think she can handle right now.

So far we’ve managed to foster a love of reading (a chapter a night - she even spent her allowance at the American Girl store on BOOKS! I was so proud.), our passion for movies, a desire to “write like Daddy does”, a desire to build robots, and an interest in cooking (we’re going to enter a Chili cooking contest next weekend). She goes to every play audition at her school even if she never gets in, although people have asked if we’ve thought about getting her an agent (the answer being no: she gets strage fright, but she’s trying her best to overcome it, but I don’t want to push her.) She asked if I’ll teach her to play the bass guitar that is collecting dust in our room, and I should, but I think I’ll wait until she’s a little older. And according to her teachers, she’s got the hang of editing just fine. (She got an award for Language Arts at the end of the school year, which made me really happy, even if the teacher felt the need to add that “she corrects me on my grammer all the time”.) So I guess we’re doing something right.

Jenny Angelici, Contributing Writer says:

June 29, 2009 at 8:15 am

For me it’s reading. I’m hoping my boys will love books, too.

Marie says:

June 29, 2009 at 12:35 pm

So many things to list. But mine aren’t all talents, hobbies or passions.

I think the most important thing I want to pass on is traditions/silliness about the holidays and functions. I go crazy for every holidays & birthdays with decorations and different ways to make the day special. From eating birthday cake for breakfast & whip cream/food fights at dinner to decorating every room in my house at Christmas and doing crafts & baking every day of the month leading up to the big day. I try to be crazy and show my kids it doesn’t take money to create memories and even when others don’t get it or thing it’s over the top for us it’s all about the fun.

I do a lot of writing, painting and I am obsessed with photography and photoshop. If my boys show an interest in any of the above I’ll be glad to pass my passions on to them. But for now I’m just helping them find their own and trying to embrace it. Like my teen son is into cooking but also loves to create “creatures” with clay so we are trying to learn how to bake cakes and play with fondant so he cane combine his two hobbies together. I’m not a cook or baker so this is very outside my box but he’s into so we are learning together.

I just feel it’s important for them to learn to enjoy life to it’s fullest and enjoy our “traditions” so they can remember them always and pass them on to their own children someday.