What a cool tradition to pass down. I've had a couple periods in my life when refinishing furniture was a huge part of it. I learned some tricks of the trade from a couple of 'ner do well' friends that supplemented their incomes with refinishing furniture. They also showed me how to 'age' a piece so it looked older than it was. :)

Syd and I funded a significant fraction of our house flipping with antiques. Just knowing what stuff was worth in different places made us some. We'd also buy pieces to refinish but we ordinarily kept those...

I've got a piano bench that serves as a coffee table that is due for refinish. I love it because of the hidden compartment where I keep the home defense system. I also have a dresser that needs finishing, but I'm not sure quite how I want to proceed with it as it has some tiger striped veneer as part of it.

Makes me happy that you and your girls carry on this tradition. It's a dandy and I think probably the varnish is cut with plenty of love to keep that tradition going.