While I was in Auto Zone about a battery, a young man spoke, and I barely returned his greeting. Then, he said, "Aren't you Mrs. *****?" Stunned, I said I was. It turns out he was a friend of my son. He asked about my son. I asked what he was doing. It turns out he works for CSX, a railroad line that runs through area.
We talked for a bit, and I asked how a person would get to ride on that little car that rides the track and is moved by the up and down motion of a handle. This little car probably has a name. He informed me those were no longer used.
Crushed! Well, I had always wanted to ride one of those someday. This dream deferred had dried up like a raisin in the sun.
It had been 38 years since I had seen this man as a child. Adults do not change as much over the years as children do. As I searched his face, I could not see the child I knew. Sometimes, I can after I am given a name.
Just a note: It is cold here, very cold in the house with heat as high as it can go. No Wonder! It is 8 degrees F here at 4:30 am.
Have you ever had a child, now grown, approach you, remembering you from so many years before? How do you feel in that one brief moment? Have you ever had a whim about doing something only to find that experience was no longer available?
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Seafood Headache?
As I entered Publix on Tuesday, I was hit with the stench of seafood. Raw seafood...ugh...then a massive headache gripped my head. That lasted for quite a while, most of the day, in fact.
I have tasted shrimp, calamari, crab, lobster, and many other seafood dishes and cared for none of them. I refuse to try oysters! I allowed my father to feed oysters to my younger daughter, but I had to leave the kitchen. The sight and smell were overwhelming.
My father loved to feed my babies. He would get a child dressed in Sunday clothes and feed the child with no bib. After years of my loudly complaining to him, he finally would tell me to get the kid undressed so he could feed the baby. A loved the oysters.
Considering my aversion to seafood and the horrid headache, I now wonder if I have an allergy to seafood. That will be a question for my allergist when I visit him next month.
But, in the meantime, does a seafood allergy manifest itself in a headache from the smell of seafood?
Okay, as soon as I hit "PUBLISH," I called my allergist. "Yes, indeed it can." So, I am being tested for seafood next appointment.
Do you have a seafood allergy that presents as a headache?
I have tasted shrimp, calamari, crab, lobster, and many other seafood dishes and cared for none of them. I refuse to try oysters! I allowed my father to feed oysters to my younger daughter, but I had to leave the kitchen. The sight and smell were overwhelming.
My father loved to feed my babies. He would get a child dressed in Sunday clothes and feed the child with no bib. After years of my loudly complaining to him, he finally would tell me to get the kid undressed so he could feed the baby. A loved the oysters.
Considering my aversion to seafood and the horrid headache, I now wonder if I have an allergy to seafood. That will be a question for my allergist when I visit him next month.
But, in the meantime, does a seafood allergy manifest itself in a headache from the smell of seafood?
Okay, as soon as I hit "PUBLISH," I called my allergist. "Yes, indeed it can." So, I am being tested for seafood next appointment.
Do you have a seafood allergy that presents as a headache?
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Easter Egg Hunt--40 Years Ago
Our church was having an Easter Egg Hunt the Saturday before Easter. All three of my children were excited to hunt eggs, plus the church had a little party with drinks, candy and such for the kids. The eggs they hunted were real eggs I boiled. The egg hunt was outside and drinks and snacks were in the church basement.
A couple of the mothers decided how to divide the age groups. My son was 9, so daughter was 7, and other daughter was 2. The groups were divided and each of my children were in a different group. That worked out well as the two older were competitive, very competitive.
None of the children were allowed outside the church while the eggs were hidden. The older groups were not allowed to have help from parents. However, we agreed that the little ones could have a parent with them while searching, but the parents could not help the children. Everyone was good with that.
My older two found the most eggs in their respective groups. Baby A toddled out with her basket and ran along scooping up eggs. Other parents of little ones pointed out eggs. I did not. A just kept running along and finding eggs everywhere in the lawn. I never helped her one time, not even to point her in another direction. I am and was really strong on fairness and allowing my children to lose or win on their own.
All three of my children won prizes! Eventually, several other mothers came to me and said I should not let my children win since their father was the minister of the church. They said it was not fair to the other children, that I should take away their prize and declare other children the winners. I was stunned. He was not even present, and I would not have allowed him to help them.
I stuck to my guns on the issue, and pointed out my little girl won over kids two and three years older and I did not point out one egg. I could not keep up with her! I did point out how the mothers of little ones who were before me complaining had helped their children who were older than my little one. I could not bear to disappoint my children who went into the hunt hoping to win and did, fair and square. It would have been oh so wrong. However, the other parents were in a snit and children were crying. Parents who were poor losers were teaching their children to be poor losers.
I cannot imagine the damage that taking the prizes from my three children would have done. I never could understand how their father being the minister affected their egg-hunting ability.
My children had not practiced at all. Other parents hid the eggs!
Your turn
Would you have made your children give up prizes just because their father was the minister? Can you see any logic in taking their prizes and giving them all to another child?
A couple of the mothers decided how to divide the age groups. My son was 9, so daughter was 7, and other daughter was 2. The groups were divided and each of my children were in a different group. That worked out well as the two older were competitive, very competitive.
None of the children were allowed outside the church while the eggs were hidden. The older groups were not allowed to have help from parents. However, we agreed that the little ones could have a parent with them while searching, but the parents could not help the children. Everyone was good with that.
My older two found the most eggs in their respective groups. Baby A toddled out with her basket and ran along scooping up eggs. Other parents of little ones pointed out eggs. I did not. A just kept running along and finding eggs everywhere in the lawn. I never helped her one time, not even to point her in another direction. I am and was really strong on fairness and allowing my children to lose or win on their own.
All three of my children won prizes! Eventually, several other mothers came to me and said I should not let my children win since their father was the minister of the church. They said it was not fair to the other children, that I should take away their prize and declare other children the winners. I was stunned. He was not even present, and I would not have allowed him to help them.
I stuck to my guns on the issue, and pointed out my little girl won over kids two and three years older and I did not point out one egg. I could not keep up with her! I did point out how the mothers of little ones who were before me complaining had helped their children who were older than my little one. I could not bear to disappoint my children who went into the hunt hoping to win and did, fair and square. It would have been oh so wrong. However, the other parents were in a snit and children were crying. Parents who were poor losers were teaching their children to be poor losers.
I cannot imagine the damage that taking the prizes from my three children would have done. I never could understand how their father being the minister affected their egg-hunting ability.
My children had not practiced at all. Other parents hid the eggs!
Your turn
Would you have made your children give up prizes just because their father was the minister? Can you see any logic in taking their prizes and giving them all to another child?
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Happy Birthday, AA (daughter)
Happy Birthday, AA!
My youngest daughter, AA, was born September 27, 1975. She had four people looking out for her every need. The older two were 7 and 5 so they were very invested in her well-being.
When I had the other two children, no one asked what I wanted and I was put to sleep. When AA was born, labor was so long that the doctor determined she was breech. She came toes first. I refused the C-section as long as she was okay. AA's birth was my first birth experience, awake and in pain with nothing at all for relief.
From conception every moment with her was different. When she moved inside me, her head was under my ribs and painful. As she kicked and stretched, I thought she was coming out my anus. Yes, it was that bad. Remember, this was my third and nothing was the same. When the doctor said she was breach, I understood.
First child--four hours labor. Second child--two hours labor. Third Child--AA took 28 long hours. Everything the child did was so different from my experience with the first two. None of it was bad, just different. Well, the pain with no meds was not good!
When I was pregnant with AA, some days, I threw up seven times after dinner. That does not include throwing up at the pool, walking down the sidewalk, just anywhere. The children were alarmed and concerned at first. Finally, they accepted that I was "throwing up again." With the first two, I threw up once each time.
When AA was born, unlike the other two children at birth, she was just not interested in opening her eyes. A little slit momentarily in one eye gave her all the information she needed. Son (7) asked me when her eyes were going to open. He knew kittens and puppies were not born with eyes open. I think AA was about two weeks old when she finally thought about taking a look around at where she was.
AA never stiffened like most babies when frightened. She was such a limp and floppy baby compared to the other two that I worried something was wrong. No, she was just chilling out all the time.
She rarely cried. She just sucked her thumb, something she was doing two minutes after she was born. The nurse told me and said she had been sucking before she was born. As I was holding her, watching her when she was about four days old, she hit herself in the forehead with her tiny fist. She moved her fist around and finally found her mouth.
She was adored by others who loved her name, both of which started with A, hence AA here. Her older brother (7) and older sister (5) were thrilled with her, adoring and caring.
When AA cried about a wet or dirty diaper as I was three blocks from home, I would say, "Oh, A, suck your thumb" as I put it in her mouth. One day, when she was less than three months old, I said. "Oh, A, suck your thumb." Before I could put her thumb in her mouth, she popped her thumb in her mouth.
When AA was almost three, I heard the dog yelp and she came in the front door as I was going to see what happened. AA had hair all around her mouth. I asked her what was wrong with the dog. Matter of factly, AA said, "I bit Puppy." Why? AA never had an answer and never did it again. I knew for a fact the dog had done nothing since he was not aggressive with any child.
One day, just before she was three, I heard her muffled screaming and squealing in distress. "Let me out!" "Help, get me out." " I want out!" "Heeeellllp!" I ran like a wild woman around the yard, unable to locate her, looking to the ground where I knew there to be an old well, looking for the old outhouse location. Finally, I realized the sound was not from a well or a hole. She was in the dog house and Rudy, the newer and larger dog was holding her in with his head and snout, just pushing her back. I had to drag her out past him, yet he still tried to keep her. She had ventured in and he liked the company and decided to keep her. She said he came in after she climbed in.
AA kept crawling into the dog house. That meant I had to bathe her, wash her hair, and dress her in clean clothes. I scolded her, but after the third time, I told her she would get a spanking. She never did it again. When AA was 21 or so, she said she crawled into the dog house after the first time because she didn't like the clothes in which I dressed her. She said she knew I would have to change her.
Her favorite animal was not cats, dogs, or bunnies. She loved cows even though she had only seen one from the car. When she was less than a year old, I joined a bowling league. I would hurry her through eating and dressing so we could be ready to go bowling after we dropped the older two at school. I had pointed out the cows, so I told her we were going to go see cows. She said, "Cow." over and over, pointing to the cows in the field next to the bowling alley. She had a cow pull toy later. If she were whining or crying, I would tell her I thought I saw a cow and for her to look out the window for a cow. That always calmed her down as she searched for a cow. She never lost her love of cows.
When AA was 18 months old, the older daughter's dance teacher said she would teach A for free just to see how a child that age would learn. There were no tap shoes that small, so I bought little patent leather shoes and had taps applied. The first time I put them on her, we were in the kitchen. As she slipped down from my lap, she fell down. I helped her up and she promptly fell down--two more times, all this before she even took a step. She had such a troubled expression on her face. Finally, I showed her the taps and told her they were what made her fall. She knew the taps were on the shoes but did not realize they made her fall. From the moment I showed her the taps after falling, she never fell again. This whole her falling and my picking her up again lasted about a minute, so I didn't let her fall and flounder about for a long time.
The tiniest ballet shoes had to be gathered up so that they didn't look like shoes, just pouches. Of course, I could let them out for a long time! If you don't know about the string in the top of ballet shoes, ask someone.
The dance teacher said she told the girls to take their places and stay there, not to move, until she came back in. When the teacher came back to the room three minutes later, she said A was the only one in her place. The others were wildly running about the room. "Good girl!" That was something I said to her all the time and one of her first words.
She was the most pleasant and even-tempered child ever until she started first grade. Then, she screamed, scratched and was a wildcat in the car on the way home from school in the car. I decided she was stressed and tired. She ate leftovers from the night before, a full meal, had a bath and hair washing, was in pajamas, rocked for an hour and in bed before 6 pm. She had to be wakened at 6:30 am to get ready for school. I rocked her to sleep each night so she could relax. She needed so much more sleep than the older two.
Unlike the older two, AA ate everything put before her, EVEN when she heard the older two say how awful some food was. Some days, I suspected she wanted to be the special one who did eat without complaining!
Everyone said AA was an easy baby because I finally figured out babies. NO. I grew up as the oldest of five and had done everything for my brother who was born when I was fourteen. So, babies were not new to me.
She was a unique joy. Happy Birthday!
Well, I have written enough of this precious child. There are many other stories I could tell. Another time! And, to the two older, yes, you were precious, too.
Your turn
Did you have a thumb-sucker who rarely cried? Did your child loves cows instead of other, smaller animals? Or, maybe another animal? Did you have one child who was just so different in every way?
My youngest daughter, AA, was born September 27, 1975. She had four people looking out for her every need. The older two were 7 and 5 so they were very invested in her well-being.
When I had the other two children, no one asked what I wanted and I was put to sleep. When AA was born, labor was so long that the doctor determined she was breech. She came toes first. I refused the C-section as long as she was okay. AA's birth was my first birth experience, awake and in pain with nothing at all for relief.
From conception every moment with her was different. When she moved inside me, her head was under my ribs and painful. As she kicked and stretched, I thought she was coming out my anus. Yes, it was that bad. Remember, this was my third and nothing was the same. When the doctor said she was breach, I understood.
First child--four hours labor. Second child--two hours labor. Third Child--AA took 28 long hours. Everything the child did was so different from my experience with the first two. None of it was bad, just different. Well, the pain with no meds was not good!
When I was pregnant with AA, some days, I threw up seven times after dinner. That does not include throwing up at the pool, walking down the sidewalk, just anywhere. The children were alarmed and concerned at first. Finally, they accepted that I was "throwing up again." With the first two, I threw up once each time.
When AA was born, unlike the other two children at birth, she was just not interested in opening her eyes. A little slit momentarily in one eye gave her all the information she needed. Son (7) asked me when her eyes were going to open. He knew kittens and puppies were not born with eyes open. I think AA was about two weeks old when she finally thought about taking a look around at where she was.
AA never stiffened like most babies when frightened. She was such a limp and floppy baby compared to the other two that I worried something was wrong. No, she was just chilling out all the time.
She rarely cried. She just sucked her thumb, something she was doing two minutes after she was born. The nurse told me and said she had been sucking before she was born. As I was holding her, watching her when she was about four days old, she hit herself in the forehead with her tiny fist. She moved her fist around and finally found her mouth.
She was adored by others who loved her name, both of which started with A, hence AA here. Her older brother (7) and older sister (5) were thrilled with her, adoring and caring.
When AA cried about a wet or dirty diaper as I was three blocks from home, I would say, "Oh, A, suck your thumb" as I put it in her mouth. One day, when she was less than three months old, I said. "Oh, A, suck your thumb." Before I could put her thumb in her mouth, she popped her thumb in her mouth.
When AA was almost three, I heard the dog yelp and she came in the front door as I was going to see what happened. AA had hair all around her mouth. I asked her what was wrong with the dog. Matter of factly, AA said, "I bit Puppy." Why? AA never had an answer and never did it again. I knew for a fact the dog had done nothing since he was not aggressive with any child.
One day, just before she was three, I heard her muffled screaming and squealing in distress. "Let me out!" "Help, get me out." " I want out!" "Heeeellllp!" I ran like a wild woman around the yard, unable to locate her, looking to the ground where I knew there to be an old well, looking for the old outhouse location. Finally, I realized the sound was not from a well or a hole. She was in the dog house and Rudy, the newer and larger dog was holding her in with his head and snout, just pushing her back. I had to drag her out past him, yet he still tried to keep her. She had ventured in and he liked the company and decided to keep her. She said he came in after she climbed in.
AA kept crawling into the dog house. That meant I had to bathe her, wash her hair, and dress her in clean clothes. I scolded her, but after the third time, I told her she would get a spanking. She never did it again. When AA was 21 or so, she said she crawled into the dog house after the first time because she didn't like the clothes in which I dressed her. She said she knew I would have to change her.
Her favorite animal was not cats, dogs, or bunnies. She loved cows even though she had only seen one from the car. When she was less than a year old, I joined a bowling league. I would hurry her through eating and dressing so we could be ready to go bowling after we dropped the older two at school. I had pointed out the cows, so I told her we were going to go see cows. She said, "Cow." over and over, pointing to the cows in the field next to the bowling alley. She had a cow pull toy later. If she were whining or crying, I would tell her I thought I saw a cow and for her to look out the window for a cow. That always calmed her down as she searched for a cow. She never lost her love of cows.
When AA was 18 months old, the older daughter's dance teacher said she would teach A for free just to see how a child that age would learn. There were no tap shoes that small, so I bought little patent leather shoes and had taps applied. The first time I put them on her, we were in the kitchen. As she slipped down from my lap, she fell down. I helped her up and she promptly fell down--two more times, all this before she even took a step. She had such a troubled expression on her face. Finally, I showed her the taps and told her they were what made her fall. She knew the taps were on the shoes but did not realize they made her fall. From the moment I showed her the taps after falling, she never fell again. This whole her falling and my picking her up again lasted about a minute, so I didn't let her fall and flounder about for a long time.
The tiniest ballet shoes had to be gathered up so that they didn't look like shoes, just pouches. Of course, I could let them out for a long time! If you don't know about the string in the top of ballet shoes, ask someone.
The dance teacher said she told the girls to take their places and stay there, not to move, until she came back in. When the teacher came back to the room three minutes later, she said A was the only one in her place. The others were wildly running about the room. "Good girl!" That was something I said to her all the time and one of her first words.
She was the most pleasant and even-tempered child ever until she started first grade. Then, she screamed, scratched and was a wildcat in the car on the way home from school in the car. I decided she was stressed and tired. She ate leftovers from the night before, a full meal, had a bath and hair washing, was in pajamas, rocked for an hour and in bed before 6 pm. She had to be wakened at 6:30 am to get ready for school. I rocked her to sleep each night so she could relax. She needed so much more sleep than the older two.
Unlike the older two, AA ate everything put before her, EVEN when she heard the older two say how awful some food was. Some days, I suspected she wanted to be the special one who did eat without complaining!
Everyone said AA was an easy baby because I finally figured out babies. NO. I grew up as the oldest of five and had done everything for my brother who was born when I was fourteen. So, babies were not new to me.
She was a unique joy. Happy Birthday!
Well, I have written enough of this precious child. There are many other stories I could tell. Another time! And, to the two older, yes, you were precious, too.
Your turn
Did you have a thumb-sucker who rarely cried? Did your child loves cows instead of other, smaller animals? Or, maybe another animal? Did you have one child who was just so different in every way?
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Money and a Child--Me
Even as a child I was mindful of money. Having it was important. After all, isn’t this one of the differences in children and adults—having money? I had no job, so I had to be creative. I learned early, around age four, to maximize my chances of having money. Collecting Coke or other drink bottles for the deposit was just one of my methods of getting money.
I lived in the era of recyclable bottles. Bottles were a boon! I could get two cents for recycling one bottle. Since Cokes and candy were a nickel apiece, it didn’t take long to accumulate the necessary funds. Of course, every child wants both Coke and candy, finding enough bottles in one week was sort of difficult. Usually, I just settled for the candy--a Baby Ruth.You see, I was not allowed out of the yard to make the big bucks.
The best I could hope for was that someone would throw one into the ditch in front of our house in the rural area in which I lived. Since there were three of us children (then four children) collecting bottles for deposits, chances were slim that I would find a bottle. To make matters worse, I did not live on a main road. Occasionally, and only for a specific reason were we allowed to walk down the road. Reasons? To go pick plums. (for a few weeks) To go on an errand where I was allowed to ride my bike to the store and go onto the main highway. To walk to a friend’s house. Maybe!
Later, we lived in a neighborhood where the chances of finding a bottle were greater. Then, we moved back to Memphis and we were once again relegated to finding bottles thrown out on the highway. No matter where we went when we were in town, we found stray bottles in order to collect the deposit.
We never missed the opportunity to gather bottles even though we scarcely had the chance. We did manage to get ten cents to buy the occasional candy bar or coke or both. Hallelujah! Sometimes, we claimed Coke bottles brought home full of Coke. Sadly, this rarely happened. I suppose I was a deprived child, forced to subsist on and quench my thirst with water instead of Coke.
We bothered our father to allow us to keep change if we were sent into the store for a purchase or if we took money and ran an errand. Since I was the oldest, I was the biggest pest. Rarely did he ever give me anything when I pestered him except grief.
Even though I wanted to buy candy, I also wanted just to amass money. While my younger siblings found joy in having more coins, I knew from an early age that having large coins was the key. They played with, counted, lost, and frittered away a handful of pennies. If they had a nickel, I could always count on one of them to trade me the nickel for five of my pennies. To my credit, I did explain why it would be best to keep their nickel and how foolish they were being. Those little kids were overjoyed with their good fortune, while I was celebrating having silly siblings.
You might say, “Okay, Linda. You were 7 and they were 6 and 4. You were just older and had learned about coins.” I say, “How about when I was 10 and they were 9 and 7?” See, they just kept wanting pennies while I wanted to get dollars for my quarters and a five dollar bill for my five ones.
I think this strong desire and ability to take small amounts and save and consolidate until I reached my goal of more money has served me well. I was never tempted to fritter away my money even though I really did want Cokes and candy. I did spend some of my money on these small pleasures, but I valued saving more than I valued having a constant supply if candy.
This attitude still serves me well. I paid off my mortgage after years of deprivation, skimping, saving and patching together a living for a few years.
Oh, please tell me how you collected bottles? When? Where? Did you have a ready stash? Live behind a store?
I lived in the era of recyclable bottles. Bottles were a boon! I could get two cents for recycling one bottle. Since Cokes and candy were a nickel apiece, it didn’t take long to accumulate the necessary funds. Of course, every child wants both Coke and candy, finding enough bottles in one week was sort of difficult. Usually, I just settled for the candy--a Baby Ruth.You see, I was not allowed out of the yard to make the big bucks.
The best I could hope for was that someone would throw one into the ditch in front of our house in the rural area in which I lived. Since there were three of us children (then four children) collecting bottles for deposits, chances were slim that I would find a bottle. To make matters worse, I did not live on a main road. Occasionally, and only for a specific reason were we allowed to walk down the road. Reasons? To go pick plums. (for a few weeks) To go on an errand where I was allowed to ride my bike to the store and go onto the main highway. To walk to a friend’s house. Maybe!
Later, we lived in a neighborhood where the chances of finding a bottle were greater. Then, we moved back to Memphis and we were once again relegated to finding bottles thrown out on the highway. No matter where we went when we were in town, we found stray bottles in order to collect the deposit.
We never missed the opportunity to gather bottles even though we scarcely had the chance. We did manage to get ten cents to buy the occasional candy bar or coke or both. Hallelujah! Sometimes, we claimed Coke bottles brought home full of Coke. Sadly, this rarely happened. I suppose I was a deprived child, forced to subsist on and quench my thirst with water instead of Coke.
We bothered our father to allow us to keep change if we were sent into the store for a purchase or if we took money and ran an errand. Since I was the oldest, I was the biggest pest. Rarely did he ever give me anything when I pestered him except grief.
Even though I wanted to buy candy, I also wanted just to amass money. While my younger siblings found joy in having more coins, I knew from an early age that having large coins was the key. They played with, counted, lost, and frittered away a handful of pennies. If they had a nickel, I could always count on one of them to trade me the nickel for five of my pennies. To my credit, I did explain why it would be best to keep their nickel and how foolish they were being. Those little kids were overjoyed with their good fortune, while I was celebrating having silly siblings.
You might say, “Okay, Linda. You were 7 and they were 6 and 4. You were just older and had learned about coins.” I say, “How about when I was 10 and they were 9 and 7?” See, they just kept wanting pennies while I wanted to get dollars for my quarters and a five dollar bill for my five ones.
I think this strong desire and ability to take small amounts and save and consolidate until I reached my goal of more money has served me well. I was never tempted to fritter away my money even though I really did want Cokes and candy. I did spend some of my money on these small pleasures, but I valued saving more than I valued having a constant supply if candy.
This attitude still serves me well. I paid off my mortgage after years of deprivation, skimping, saving and patching together a living for a few years.
Oh, please tell me how you collected bottles? When? Where? Did you have a ready stash? Live behind a store?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Feeding stray children in the middle of the night
Last night--
The boys were hungry and wanted money to put in the laundromat junk food machines. No way.
A huge load of nasty towels have been waiting here, ready for me to transport them to the laundry. In the room where rain comes in, well, one of the rooms where rain comes in, I had put towels down. They dried on the line but needed to be washed. I HATE THE LAUNDROMAT!!!! After checking out the newer laundry, I got change at a gas station in case the changer did not work. When I came back, there was a crowd in the formerly deserted laundry--all young people. My nerves were on edge, and I had to keep telling myself they were not looking for trouble. I took my chances.
AT
TWO
AM
When I walked in, one of the boys called me by name. It turns out I had substituted for most of the 3 boys and five girls.
We talked. The girls told me tales of having a baby, being in Florida and the mother and three daughters riding with a trucker through eight states to get from Florida to Alabama and away from abuse, missing 28 days of school, turning in a Dad for snorting, mothers not getting child support, teachers leaving bruises....get the picture? And it is almost 2:00 A.M....that is morning, not afternoon.
As I gathered my towels to bring home and dry, the oldest boy, tallest boy, and the only black child came over and said, "Let me have a hug." Without reservation, I did. As he hugged me he asked for money. "What for." "Food." "Where?"He was going to buy food from the snack machines, said he was hungry and "staying" in a trailer with the friend and no food and no adults and no money.
Rats, now what should I do? I hate these situations. Are they pulling my leg, just trying to get money for snacks? It is not my job to determine that! So, I pulled out two one-dollar bills. I rethought it and told him I would go get him something. So, all 8 teens were going to get in my car. Thankfully, my car was full of stuff and would not hold another person, much less eight more.
They asked if I were going to get them a hamburger. Hmmmm....the adult in me thought--Walmart seems like the place to get real food. (They told me they did not eat vegetables or much fruit.) However, I decided to go home and get food from my house. I gathered what I had:
2 little 6-inch pizzas I had made (heated)
1/2 gallon milk
4 fresh eggs
Jiffy cornbread box mix
jello
instant pudding
peanut butter
instant oatmeal packets
8 disposable cups
dozen assorted plastic forks, knives, and spoons
1/2 gallon cherry/apple juice
can of fruit cocktail
Only the milk, eggs, jello, and pudding are something I will eat. The other is here for assorted reasons. The cups are about five years old and free when I got them.
All the vegetables I could have given them were left here. Maybe I should have taken a can of corn. Kids like corn. So do cats, and dogs, and chickens! Too late. Well, I tried to take things kids will eat, not what I think they should eat. It was mostly nutritious. I could have given them my grapes, but I had no bananas to offer.
The boys were so funny, and told me they could not cook when they saw what I brought. I assured them that the things I gave them could not be considered cooking. "Just read the directions." One said he did not know how to cook eggs. "Well, I am confident you can learn easily." He readily agreed with me. One of girls said she would teach him. Another guy said, "Don't we need butter to cook eggs? Did you bring butter?" Actually, I thought about it and forgot. I forgot the bread, too. And the jelly!
The boys looked really happy to get all I gave them and decided to leave with it immediately! No one looked disappointed. So, maybe they really needed food. I still have my money. I honestly think they went to eat.
I arrived home after 3 A.M. Why are seventh grade girls allowed to be out at this time of the night? The police came by while I was there and told them not to get into any trouble, twice!
The boys were hungry and wanted money to put in the laundromat junk food machines. No way.
A huge load of nasty towels have been waiting here, ready for me to transport them to the laundry. In the room where rain comes in, well, one of the rooms where rain comes in, I had put towels down. They dried on the line but needed to be washed. I HATE THE LAUNDROMAT!!!! After checking out the newer laundry, I got change at a gas station in case the changer did not work. When I came back, there was a crowd in the formerly deserted laundry--all young people. My nerves were on edge, and I had to keep telling myself they were not looking for trouble. I took my chances.
AT
TWO
AM
When I walked in, one of the boys called me by name. It turns out I had substituted for most of the 3 boys and five girls.
We talked. The girls told me tales of having a baby, being in Florida and the mother and three daughters riding with a trucker through eight states to get from Florida to Alabama and away from abuse, missing 28 days of school, turning in a Dad for snorting, mothers not getting child support, teachers leaving bruises....get the picture? And it is almost 2:00 A.M....that is morning, not afternoon.
As I gathered my towels to bring home and dry, the oldest boy, tallest boy, and the only black child came over and said, "Let me have a hug." Without reservation, I did. As he hugged me he asked for money. "What for." "Food." "Where?"He was going to buy food from the snack machines, said he was hungry and "staying" in a trailer with the friend and no food and no adults and no money.
Rats, now what should I do? I hate these situations. Are they pulling my leg, just trying to get money for snacks? It is not my job to determine that! So, I pulled out two one-dollar bills. I rethought it and told him I would go get him something. So, all 8 teens were going to get in my car. Thankfully, my car was full of stuff and would not hold another person, much less eight more.
They asked if I were going to get them a hamburger. Hmmmm....the adult in me thought--Walmart seems like the place to get real food. (They told me they did not eat vegetables or much fruit.) However, I decided to go home and get food from my house. I gathered what I had:
2 little 6-inch pizzas I had made (heated)
1/2 gallon milk
4 fresh eggs
Jiffy cornbread box mix
jello
instant pudding
peanut butter
instant oatmeal packets
8 disposable cups
dozen assorted plastic forks, knives, and spoons
1/2 gallon cherry/apple juice
can of fruit cocktail
Only the milk, eggs, jello, and pudding are something I will eat. The other is here for assorted reasons. The cups are about five years old and free when I got them.
All the vegetables I could have given them were left here. Maybe I should have taken a can of corn. Kids like corn. So do cats, and dogs, and chickens! Too late. Well, I tried to take things kids will eat, not what I think they should eat. It was mostly nutritious. I could have given them my grapes, but I had no bananas to offer.
The boys were so funny, and told me they could not cook when they saw what I brought. I assured them that the things I gave them could not be considered cooking. "Just read the directions." One said he did not know how to cook eggs. "Well, I am confident you can learn easily." He readily agreed with me. One of girls said she would teach him. Another guy said, "Don't we need butter to cook eggs? Did you bring butter?" Actually, I thought about it and forgot. I forgot the bread, too. And the jelly!
The boys looked really happy to get all I gave them and decided to leave with it immediately! No one looked disappointed. So, maybe they really needed food. I still have my money. I honestly think they went to eat.
I arrived home after 3 A.M. Why are seventh grade girls allowed to be out at this time of the night? The police came by while I was there and told them not to get into any trouble, twice!
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