They say you can tell much about a family based on what they eat. After all, there are anthropologists who specialize in figuring out what cultures and civilizations ate and how that connected with other aspects of their lifestyle. I would like to propose that not only can you tell a great deal about a family by investigating what they have IN their refrigerator, you can tell even more about them by what they choose to stick to the outside. What you have plastered ON your refrigerator says a lot about your family values and “personality”…
Is it all about the children’s art work on the front of your fridge? Perhaps you use it to keep track of coupons or those important notices and papers that come home from school? Even if your fridge is being used to collect coupons, the type of coupons says something about your family too—is it pizza delivery coupons or ones for organic soy milk?
Our refrigerator is covered with political cartoons, friends’ business cards and photographs. Seems any time someone sends me photos of their kids or family, I happen to be standing in the kitchen when I open the mail so onto the fridge they go. I think I have baby pictures on there of kids who have just graduated from the eighth grade! While I do periodically sort and clean off what is papering my fridge, many of the items I take down eventually get put back up anyway. AND, I confess that I still have the letter and number magnets across my fridge from when my teens were preschoolers!
I do not imagine that when the refrigerator (or ice box) was invented all those years ago, the inventors had a clear understanding of what a central figure to family life it would become. Who knew it would become the family art gallery, announcement board and filing system? What does your choice in refrigerator décor say about your family?