Little Mother
Friday Afternoon Vignette
The voices wafted over to me from the living room.
"Anna, all the animals are going to church
now."
"No, Jo - animals don't go to church!"
"But I'm just fertending they do."
The commentary continued as they scampered downstairs,
returning in formal church attire (a floor length gown and shawl for Anneke,
and a knee length vest for Jo, from their supply of dress-up clothes).
Jo was saying, "The animals are all listening to
me because I'm the minister." He added, "A minister usually uses big
words, but they can understand me because I don't use big words."
Apparently they were just on time for church, for they
were barely seated when minister and parishioner joined their voices in hearty
song.
At the sound of singing, Jim came at a run.
"Wait for me! Wait for me! I need to get my dress
on!"
That's Jim's usual way of saying that he needs to
dress. (It's a logical error to make, really.) However, he did indeed grab a
dress from the basement - and a flowered one at that - and came up with it
wrapped unceremoniously around his person. Of course he had to hang onto it for
dear life, since it was in danger of sliding off with every step (and indeed
seemed likely to trip and send him flying at any moment). But apparently when
one is late for church one cannot be overly-particular as to the mode of
dressing, and the subsequent hazards must be borne bravely.
"I want to sing! I want to sing!" He begged
in his sweet, childish voice.
Obligingly, the congregation began again, more lustily
than ever:
"Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee!
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!"
I sneaked a peek through the doorway, to see their
three beaming faces. Such glimpses may be all in a day's work for a mother, but
they never grow old. Indeed, I look forward to enjoying scenes of this sort for
all eternity!
2009 caption for photo series featuring excited children eating bowlfuls of millet:
These children don't see millet - they see sand. They
don't see bowls - they see cliffs, rising up around the sand. They don't see a
puddle of milk - they see a Lake.
Rock Lake, to be precise.
In 2.5 days we hope to be sitting by the real Rock
Lake, and anticipation is riding high, obviously. Getting into the spirit of
things, I even thought about getting out some broccoli to add a few little
trees along the millet shores. But we were all out of broccoli, much to the
kid's disappointment.
Jo wanted to know if there are bathrooms at the
cottage. When you're five, and you haven't been at the cottage for ten months,
you have this hazy recollection of Utopia, but the details are fuzzy. He does
remember that at the cottage there is water, and a cottage.
I remember - with pleasant nostalgia - sunshine, long
swims, Bean, leisurely chats, babies on the beach, and baked goods containing
chocolate and peanut butter.
This Utopian destination flowing with chocolate and
peanut butter is the cottage my parents bought the year M & I were married.
Every year since, we have had the privilege of spending at least a week at Rock
Lake Lodge with my family and typically a week with M’s family as well.
What rich memories we have from twenty years of these family
vacations!
This was the inaugural year of Rockville, inspired by the AIO series called "Kidsborough"- a society
established by kids, for kids, to help teach them about government, economics,
etc.
Thursday morning we heard the candidates’ speeches.
There were some pretty impressive promises about protecting pedestrians from
drunk boaters, and improving the eating of donuts, and about no longer being
"mean”. But it was Meg, who simply said she wanted to make Rockville a
society established on the Fruit of the Spirit, who ended up winning the
mayorship.
Following the election, most of the residents of
Rockville headed for the high, rocky ground to build their homes. They were
each given $10 which which to start life in Rockville.
Businesses began to spring up all over the place. Jesse
sold frogs, until he was forced to close shop when he sold his one and only
frog to JM. JM and the little boys sold boat rides, Jenna sold blueberries (4
for $1), and Kris and Beka opened a spa. Non-residents (the grown-ups) could
have their hair and nails done for free... at their own risk. There was one
lawsuit launched by a Rockville resident against the spa for messy nail-polish
application; the judge awarded the custumer the solitary dollar she had spent
at the spa, and that was that.
JM was really entrepreneurial, I thought, with his boat
building business. He nailed together various scraps of wood from the workship
into a whole batch of cute little boats which the kids thought were just great.
If they didn't actually float, that was okay, because Opa fixed them up for
free!
Anneke had walk-in-clinic for bug bites, cuts or burns.
She also picked wild raspberries, and walked around with them in the little
basket she had made in craft class. They were a steal at five for a dollar.
She and Jo also set up a candy store which was a big
hit, since paper money (especially Rockville currency) doesn't mean much to a
kid compared with real, tangible, edible, candy!
Just when business was at its peak in the candy store,
Jay (who, as far as I know, had been spending freely but couldn't make up her
mind to undertake any business) called from a neighbouring picnic table,
"FREE candy over here!"
So Anna and Jo lost a few customers - nay more, Jo lost
his business partner as Anna ran off to see if there was any left for her! (There
wasn't.) When Anneke came back there was still a few faithful custumers
shelling out their money at her store, either oblivious to the free sale next
door, or happier to play the game of buying and selling.
Random Quotes
"I like taking piglet to bed better 'cause he
doesn't say 'warr' in the night".
- Jims, when faced with the choice between taking a
stuffed Piglet, Pooh, or Tigger to bed.
"Pretend it's a really funny TV show!"
- the Kids, sitting in front of an empty box that had a
plastic window in the side, having been introduced to the concept of TV while
visiting the neighbour.
Little Folks at Play
Jo and Jim were arguing, and finally Jo appealed to me:
"Mom, Jim says firemen catch bad guys. But mom, do
firemen catch bad guys?"
"Not usually. The police do that."
"Huh?" Jim couldn't believe it. He had it on authority
from his cousin that firemen go after the bad guys.
"Well, maybe your cousin didn't know," I said
diplomatically.
"Huh?" he said again in his favorite high
pitched tone of incredulity. "But he's ten!"
"Well..." I said, looking for a quick but simple
ending to the argument. "But I'm thirty!"
(To answer or not to answer a fool according to his
folly; that is not a mystery a multi-tasking housewife should be expected to
unravel at a moment's notice. Nor, for that matter, should she be expected to
be able to spout off her age accurately.)
"Huh?" retorted the broken record. "But
I thought you were thirteen!"
(I'm old enough to appreciate if someone thinks I look
younger than I am, but this is going too far. Especially since Jim thinks
Maurice is a hundred!)
The kids resumed their play, and I heard Jo, in a deep,
booming voice, declare, "Okay, Mister, you're coming with me. You're being
tooken to jail!"
Crazy, squealing sound effects as boys and dinky cars
race around and around the room.
"It's a crash!"
"No, it's a fire! ...No, it's a crash and a
fire!"
Several seconds of cacophony, followed by, "Phew....
it's out. Thank-you! Thank-you!!"
Then Jo, a.k.a the police, resumed his deep bass voice.
"Who made that crash? Mister, I'm going to have to
give you a credit card. I mean... I mean... oh yeah! I mean, a ticket."
I love little folks' talk.
