Giving your kids better than you had

Tonight when DH and I were putting our son to bed he was laying there kissing us over and over, and it just made me so happy. I have no memories of my parents kissing each other, or kissing me, or of us having meaningful one-on-one time, etc. It feels so good to give him a better, more loving home than DH or I had growing up. We don't have a lot of money, we're struggling to put both of us through school, but we'll get there soon enough. This kid has an awesome life. Feels like we're beating all the odds that were stacked against us.

What are you able to give your kid that you didnt have?

Attention. I'm a SAHM and he's an only.child. I'm the oldest of six.

Quoting Mama MacGyver*:" Tonight when DH and I were putting our son to bed he was laying there kissing us over and over, and it ... [snip!] ... Feels like we're beating all the odds that were stacked against us. What are you able to give your kid that you didnt have?"

A loving. non abusive family.
Matching, clean clothes.
New (mostly) toys.
I tell them that they are beautiful everyday. My mom has never, ever told me that.  

my story is different, I was spoiled rotten and still am by both of my parents, I can't afford half of the things my parents have giving me, but I want to do the same with DS. my parents till this day are lovable to each other and their kids. I'm hoping I can be as half as good as they are.

My dad was never around. My mom hated me. My sister was always the better kid and I was left to clean up the smurf (literally, we had 10 horses and 4 dogs).

I just want to give my kids a happy and loving household to grow up in. I am working really hard for my degree (9.5 months until graduation) and want them to see that you can do anything you put your mind to.

My dad has more then made up for not being there when I was little, we are so close now and best friends. My mom and I didnt talk for 2 years and even now we have a rocky relationship. I have chosen to put our past behind us because I dont even see her once a year so I just suck it up even though I am still furious with her. I will NOT abandon my children like she abandoned my sister (she was a minor when my mom left). Even though we never got along, the way she just left when I was 2 weeks from giving birth scared our relationship and it will never get fixed because she thinks she did nothing wrong.

<blockquote><b>Quoting ♥Mama Constantine:</b>" A loving. non abusive family. Matching, clean clothes. New (mostly) toys. I tell them that they are beautiful everyday. My mom has never, ever told me that.   "</blockquote>




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I can't say that I ever lacked much growing up and for that I'm thankful. My parents were not rich by any means but we always had everything we needed and extra plus they were/are loving parents. Now my husband's family is a different story, they struggled with money bad and his father wasn't always around. The only good thing was he seen what he didn't want for his life so he bettered himself.

For me I feel like DS has it worse than I did.
DH is an amazing dad just like my dad was to me, but there is no way in hell I can live up to my mom. She was freaking amazing and still is.
Idk but good job OP! I love stories like yours. Love is all the matters in a kids life when they are young. What does it matter if they have all the newest and most expensive stuff I'd they don't have parents who care about them?

That's sweet )
It's bot about what you didn't have as a kid its just about doing what's best  
I stopped worry about trying to give my kids the life I didn't have . I realized as long as they are happy that's important. Your doing great  

A better mom than I had, but growing up with a single dad and all my other siblings being grown and out of the house, I was raised with everything I should have been. I had everything I ever wanted and I had a supportive parent who encouraged me to excel. I love my dad and if I can instill the same things he did to me in my children, I will be ecstatic.

Along with my DH, he legit has the picture perfect family, I love my in laws just as much as my own family and they are beyond awesome parents.

We both got pretty lucky with our families.

Quoting Mama MacGyver*:" <blockquote><b>Quoting ♥Mama Constantine:</b>" A loving. non abusive family. ... [snip!] ... She only says it now when she's trying to guilt trip him   ... It means so much to him that our son KNOWS he is so loved."

I know how he feels. My mom only says she loves me when someone in our family dies.  
It means the world to me that my kids know they are loved by us.

clean nice apartment tons of attention. breastmilk and no abuse. she gets alot of used clothes but they match and are very nice. i crochet her stuff all the time. she's not spoiled with money but we give her the most we can.

Quoting Jude the Super Kinkster:" Attention. I'm a SAHM and he's an only.child. I'm the oldest of six."

 
i'm a SAHM also and my DD is an only child too, but i'm the youngest of 6. so towards my teenage years, i got some attention...but i was in my teen angst years and "hated" my parents then.

Attention, patience. I was the 3rd out of six.. I can't remember any hugs or anything..I remember being yelled at every night to go to bed. I tuck my son in, I play with him, I sit there for dinner time, I watch cartoons with him, constantly hugging and kissing him..I never want him to grow up like I did

A home without roaches.
My father was a scumbag who left when I was four, and my mom raised us on her own. Four children, 14, 13, 9 and 4. We moved a lot, and we had to stay in smurffy apartments because it was all she could afford on her own. The people usually had roaches that would infest our furniture.
at one apartment, they told her they were renovating, and we had to stay somewhere else for 2 weeks. After a month of living in a hotel, my mother drove by the apartment and saw all of our belongings thrown in a dumpster. Everything we've ever owned. every picture, home video, piece of clothing, everything- in the dumpster. My brothers got a beautiful, devistating revenge but she built us up from scratch, bought herself a house, and recovered every time. i miss her horribly. i hope be to half the woman she was!

As of now- and i hope it doesnt change- no bugs, clean, and stable living.
she has everything in the world a child DOESNT need, as well. But i think that is what matters most to me, because it affected me so much as a child.