Me and Mom

Today's Link
The View from this End

Today's Saying
A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries

Today's Picture
Mom and one of those babies

Last week when I put the newspaper clipping about my mother on this blog somebody left a comment saying she was an angel.
I suppose she was. Someday I will write about all of what she went through but not today.
Today I want to look at my mother’s act of taking in children as it was seen by my sister and I at the time. It is strange how what one person sees as the act of an angel can be seen as something entirely different by others.
I thought it was crazy and unfair.
I was old enough to baby-sit so three or four nights a week my mom and dad left Dawn and I with the babies and drove downtown to play canasta with my Aunt Viola. I really hated that, it was so unfair.
I wanted to be outside climbing trees or playing in my tree house.
I wanted to be down at the neighbor’s playing with his American Flyer train.
I wanted to be playing cowboys and Indians with the neighbor kids.
I did not want to be taking care of up to four squalling babies.
I really didn’t.
They needed to have diapers changed, formula heated, and to be rocked.
I really hated it.
But she who must be obeyed because she pulled hair said to do it, so I did.
When the Agency asked her to take four babies instead of two because of the shortage of foster parents she didn’t hesitate.
Being a legalist I pointed out that she was only licensed for two .
She ignored me. She was an angelic law breaker.
It never occurred to me she need some time for her. Time to just play cards. Time to not think and not worry.
Being a kid I was concerned about me.
In all honesty those years were good for me. I came into marriage with an ability to change diapers. How many men can say that?
But right after our first baby came ma showed up to give us a hand and make sure we got it right.
Looking back I marvel at all she did.
From this side she looks really special.
But as a kid things looked different.
But we do learn don’t we.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
There seems to have been a break in at the museum last night. Nothing was stolen but things were moved around. This week’s volunteer says that she is sure the white rabbit was facing the door as usual when she locked up last night but this morning it was facing the back wall. In the Grengicoff Room all the driblets were spread over the reading table as if somebody had been reading them. In the children’s room the old model train was running and it hadn’t run in years. They thought the motor was burned out. So it certainly looks like somebody was there but the door was locked and the alarms never went off.
It could, of course , be the museum ghosts but why are they acting up now? Eino says there has to be some rational explanation. They just haven’t found it yet.
Tammy and Tommy UK intend to stop in after school and see if they can see something that the others have missed.
The museum now has an antique model train that runs and that’s good news. It was easy enough to put the driblets back and turn the white rabbit around. So no harm was done.
But it is a mystery.

Wrap Up

Another great day. I put the church bulletin on the website. It took longer than it should have. For those who asked I think I was twelve and they were only gone for an hour and a half. My Son Peter and family stopped here on the way to Madison and we went out for lunch. My sister Dawn called.I visited all the blogs that left comments yesterday. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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