When your parents are business owners...
You learn what handwork is and how important it can be. You come to understand what a crappy employee is...and you vow to never be one. You learn to take pride in the business your parent's have spent countless hours building up.
When your parents are business owners and the business is doing well...
You don't have to worry about money all the time. You learn to be thankful for every customer that comes into the business because it means another dollar can be put toward your college fund. And once actually in college, you become a charity to anything and everything your parents' business has to offer you. (From a bakery standpoint, bread, bread and more bread.)
When your parents are business owners, and it's a food business...
You learn to appreciate good meals. Your food consumption consists solely of selections from your parent's business. You eat leftovers for breakfast, you stop by for lunch and you wait for mother and father to come home from work with more goodies for dinner. You are loyal to their food and their food alone.
When your parents are business owners...
You are taught to waste things. You learn it is just something that comes with the territory of being a business owner. Most importantly, you teach yourself that you alone cannot and should not attempt to consume everything that is about to expire simply to avoid wasting it.
When your parents are business owners...
Your whole circle of friends reaps the benefits. This includes your roommates, your church community, the families you nanny for, your neighbors and even sometimes random people on the street. You learn to give and give generously because one, that will bring in more business, and two, giving is better than wasting.
When your parents are business owners...
You grow up fast. You learn how to be independent. The business is your parent's second home -- even sometimes first. Therefore, you become the keeper of the real home. You learn to check the mail everyday; you learn to take the trash to the curb, you learn to keep up with the dishes, laundry and around-the-house cleaning because your parents' home has begun to feel like your own.
When your parents are business owners...
You will most likely work for them at one point or another in our life. You will struggle to know if you should call them "mom" and "dad" or by their real names. Besides, it's unprofessional to be calling for your mother every five minutes. You have to continually remind yourself that they are your bosses and you can't talk back like you would back home.
Like I said, when your parents own a business, there are many things you learn very quickly.
