MOTHER, REMEMBER WITH ME

GUIDELINE:

The questions in this interview are addressed to the mother. Therefore, when talking about own parents and grandparents, they are the mother's parents and the mother's grandparents. You can get the information you've never heard before! It might be a good idea to start by sketching out a diagram in which you and your mother reflect on the stages of her life, divided into childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and mature adulthood. It is a good idea to ask for the number and names of your mother's siblings, birth dates, places, occupations, and places of residence, even if they seem commonplace and obvious, to anchor the story.

The recollections in the interview are intended to be intergenerational and the answers are private. If you wish to be interviewed for a whole biography or external archive, you should seek instructions on how to ask official permission to record the information. Here, some of the questions are unfinished to fit into the life of each parent. You can add your own questions.

When talking about the mother's schooling and profession, it is perhaps worth pointing out that it does not have to be formal training or profession. For example, those who work as housewives or change occupations and job have important responsibilities and a lot of learned information to share, that might easily be left unremembered, if not interviewed.

CONTENTS

CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE
CHILDHOOD	1
YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS	2
THE FAMILY YOU GREW UP IN	3
SCHOOL AGE AND ADOLESCENCE	4
DATING AND BECOMING A MOTHER
DATING AND FINDING A PARTNER	5
BECOMING A MOTHER	6
TELL ABOUT ME	6
TRAVELS, WORK AND LEISURE
TRAVELS	7
WORK AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES	8
REMEMBER WHEN WE --- TOGETHER	9
THE PERSON YOU HAVE BECOME
MEMORIES	10
THOUGHTS, HOPES AND DREAMS	11

CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

CHILDHOOD

What kind of...?

Where...?

How...?

Did you...?

YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS

Did you know your grandparents?

Do you remember...?

• All grandparents' places of residence and years of residence or life stages

Did you hear your grandparents tell stories about...?

Your parents' family:

• Who was in it?




• What did your mother and father do for a living?




• How many members of the family were there?

How did your parents meet?

Do you remember...?

• All the places where your parents lived and the years or periods of their lives before the current one

What other significant relationships did you have: aunt, uncle, neighbors, other relative?

Where did the family live: in the country or in town?

What was the family language?

Did you hear stories from relatives?

THE FAMILY YOU GREW UP IN

What kind of...?

• what was your childhood home and its atmosphere like? Describe it briefly.

How did the family...?

• the family as an environment conveys important things, such as what to value and what to avoid

Did the family have its own customs and sayings...?

Did you have...?

• Did you have pets or objects in your home that you loved?

What things in your life have given you strength and helped you to cope in later life?

AGE OF LEARNING AND ADOLESCENCE

Did you go to school?

• What kind of school was it?

What did you like in going to school?

How did you...?

Did you have any important school friends or childhood friends?

DATING AND BECOMING A MOTHER

DATING AND FINDING A PARTNER

When...?

How to...?

What kind of...?

BECOMING A MOTHER

When did you...?

Were you...?

What kind of...?

---

TELL ABOUT ME

How did it feel…?

TRAVELS, WORK AND LEISURE

TRAVELS

When did you...?

What...?

Where have you travelled?

How did you...?

WORK AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES

What would you like me to know about your work?

What do you prefer to do in your spare time...?

What is your favorite food?

REMEMBER WHEN WE --- TOGETHER

Do you remember?

THE PERSON YOU HAVE BECOME

MEMORIES

Memories:

THOUGHTS, HOPES AND DREAMS

Thoughts:

Hopes:

Dreams:

Creative commons advice

Author: Katri Hirvonen-Nurmi, Helinä Rautavaara Museum

This text is published under the terms of the Creative Commons License: CC BY-SA 2.0. The name of the author shall be as follows: CC BY-SA 2.0, Author: Katri Hirvonen-Nurmi, funding source: Erasmus+ Programme for Adult Education of the European Union. The text and materials may be reproduced, distributed, made publicly available, shared and adapted under the following conditions: In any case shall the name of the author, the license as well as the website's address of the original source be published.

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Disclaimer Erasmus+

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