I had my first four children in four years with the youngest being younger by two and a half years. I had a dutch door installed between the kitchen and the playroom so I could open the top and keep an eye on them while I was working in the kitchen. I had been busy for a few minutes and hadn't looked in on them. When I did, there was one child missing. The older three were sitting on the toy chest looking especially innocent but where was the youngest. Then I heard banging from the inside of the toy chest and learned what my sweet innocent babes had done to their little brother.
My youngest one had a bad habit of falling down the basement steps. So, I put pillows and other cushioning at the base of the stairs to cushion his fall. Everytime I heard noises on the stairs, I would run to see what had happened. The older ones thought what a great way to play a trick on mom and began throwing their dad's work boots down the steps to see me run. The first time was forgiven but the second time was not so much fun for them.
I had to go back to work when the older ones started school so that meant babysitters in the summer and after school. I had several teen age cousins and a sister. They became my babysitters. It might not have been a good choice for them. My children didn't want a babysitter and tried to get rid of them. The first babysitter was my cousin. My husband used to take garlic pills that resembled brown M&M's. When my cousin reached for a handful of them from a dish on the table, they were silent as she put them in her mouth. Then my sister came as the babysitter. She didn't fare much better even though they said they liked her. We lived in the country on about twenty acres. Half of it was tilled and the other half was trees and brambles along a small creek, The children played in the wooded section all the time and knew their way home. My sister didn't. When they told her they were lost, she believed them and panicked. When they started laughing, she knew they weren't being truthful. During the winter, they went out to the creek and were sliding down the bank and onto the frozen water. My sister, not thinking of the weight difference between young children and teenagers, slid down too. Unlike the children, she slid down the bank and into the frozen water.
I am certain they did more things to the girls who came to watch them but they haven't told me yet.
My oldest was an avid fan of the Little House on the Prairie books and read and reread them constantly. One day I was clearing the sod from around the trees in the lawn to make it easier to mow without damaging the trees. I piled the sod in the driveway until I could move it away. The children proceeded to build a soddy out of the pile. They encouraged their youngest brother to go in to see how it was. He started to come out saying,"It was hot and smelly". The oldest who knew about soddies from the Wilder books said,"NO, In the book it said they were cool and fresh smelling." She didn't believe him until he came out covered with mud formed from the dirt and sweat.
My grandson, who was about five at the time, was sitting in a restaurant with his mom and staring at two women who were sitting next to them. When he and his mom got up to leave, he went over to the women and told them they were beautiful. We call him Mr. Obvious. He has always been like that.
Two of my grandsons were surprisingly quiet one afternoon when they suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs totally naked and completely blue. Now, that they are teenagers, they don't like to hear this story.
Add a story of your own if you feel like. We all have funny stories about our children and grandchildren.
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