Great stories folks...
Mine is Vanilla compared to most. I was one of six kids in our family. Dad was a carpenter and mom stayed home and managed the six of us.
Dad's job didn't seem like any big deal to me... until I worked with him the summer of my freshman year in college. Up early and on some roof that was well over 100 degrees, a short lunch break and then work long and hard... a crawl space one moment and hauling shingles up on another roof top the next. That experience helped me to buckle down and work hard in school, get my education and enter a profession.
Mom's job didn't seem like any big deal to me... until I had kids of my own. She cranked out loads of laundry and meals were on time. She made sure homework was done on time and drilled us for our spelling or vocab tests. She read the morning paper to us at breakfast and she sent us to school knowing that we were loved and what we did that day mattered.
So as you can see, I was very lucky... I didn't always know it... but I do now.