#dosomethingyummy Week 2 - What my family means to me.

Once again I have opted for the personal prompt- what kind of family did I grow up in? And why is family important to me?

Well I grew up in what I always knew to be a fairly typical family. I say this because at the time most of my friends and almost everyone I knew had a similar family set up, that being mum and dad (married and still together), and one sibling, a sister in my case (younger). We lived in an average sized 3 bedroom house pretty much the same as the houses of my friends. In fact my parents still live in the same house! My dad was a policeman and as a result worked a lot. When I was young and he was in uniform he worked shifts, but I never remember feeling that it was unusual or missing out at all, I guess it was normal to me. Later on he seemed to work more during the day than at night but it wasn't 9-5 and he was still out a lot. My mum didn't work full time until I was about 12 when she got a job at my secondary school (cue major embarrassment!). My sister, who is just under 3 years younger than me, and I had a typical sibling relationship in that we would play well one minute and fight the next. I'd say we were not very close but get on a lot better these days.

As a family we went on holiday once a year, for a week, always in the UK, usually Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, or the Isle of Wight. I think once we went to Wales and maybe another time to Kent. Often it would be over my birthday which is at the end of July. Days out at weekends would be walks in the New Forest or along a beach. Nothing fancy. I don't think I appreciated it all at the time but I think I had a good upbringing where I learnt not to take things for granted and I was in no way spoilt. I think I was always aware of my parents' love for me and I could approach them with pretty much anything. Two things I hope my children feel about me.

Why is family important to me? Well, because I need them and they need me. Well certainly my children do! I moved away from my parents when I was 21 (or 18 if you count going to university!) It's something I've got used to and I can go anything from 2 weeks to 5 or 6 weeks without seeing them with almost daily texts and phonecalls a couple of times a week inbetween. Usually they drive me mad when I do see them but I find myself missing them, Mum particularly, especially since I've had my sons. I'd love to just be able to pop over for a coffee after the school run, or have mum nip round with some dinner or something. In reality it will never happen as my life is now here in Crawley and it has been for 11 years. The plus side of having parents that live further away is that I can send the kids to stay with them or that when Mum comes to visit she sometimes stays for the weekend and is a massive help with the kids.

Family life is well, my whole life really as I am a stay at home mum so pretty much all I do revolves around them. It's important to me though as it was my choice to have children. OK so I got one more than I bargained for but I wouldn't change them!!

I'm writing this as part of the #dosomethingyummy campaign for Yummy Mummy week. Find out more at www.yummymummy.org.uk