I spent 8 weeks in Nebraska with Sara and Family. Initially I was there to babysit the kids while Sara was finishing up working for the Nebraska School District and I stayed till 17 July.
It was difficult being in this household for so long - mainly because my life has moved on from the child raising mode to the 'almost retired but not quite' mode. The difference between the way I was raised, and the way I chose to raise my children and the way my grandchildren are being raised is quite stark. For instance, I had story books that I read - some of them just fell apart from over use. TV was not available and radio was all we had. I liked to listen to "The Lady" as I called her. She was a voice on the radio that told stories for little kids, taught us songs and had us doing rolling around on the floor exercises a few days a week. Mostly I just played outside in the sunshine and fresh air. My parents read to me a lot and I had loads of Little Golden Books that were were well memorized from being read to me.
My own children were kept busy with plenty of crayons, paper, glue, tape and loads of imagination. I would have Bill bring home Pampers Boxes from the pharmacy and these boxes became cars, boats, space ships, play houses, doll hospitals, hiding places, flimisy trampolines and provided hours of fun for my children. When the box became unrecognizable or vandalized by sharp objects like scissors, it was simply discarded and a new box appeared from the pharmacy and my children occupied themselves with the new box till it also was demolished. We had Sara take dance classes and she was also in Brownies and for a short time she took Gymnastics at the request of her dance teacher to improve her flexibility. David took Gymnastics in the hope that it would help his co-ordination but he could not stand still in line waiting for his turn. He was in scouts as a cub and then as a boy scout and earned his Eagle Rank. He is very proud of his Eagle rank. We went hiking at the trails at UPJ (University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown) and also went to Wolf Rocks at a nearby state park. There was plenty to keep them busy. From time to time we had TV but did not watch it much....no time!
Sara's children are natives of the pushbutton generation and are total tecchie tots. If I got stuck on Angry Birds (and that is often) I would hand my Iphone to Oliver and he would just sail through the level and the next two or three levels as well and then hand it back to me. I can hand my Iphone or Ipad to any of the three of them and they know instantly how to make it do something other than be a very expensive mini computer with icons on the screen.
The highlights of the 8 weeks were successful fishing trips by Jacob and the children to a nearby pond and I cooked the fish for them. Lyla had a Dance Recital and her question to many people was "Have you been on stage?" I have been on stage in my dance recital. Bill and David came to visit and that created an interesting situation - there were two sets of parents and two sets of children in the house. Bill and I as parents of Sara and David and Sara and Jacob as parents of Ethan, Oliver, Lyla and the newest Friest edition, August. We were all focused on the birth of August but Sara wanted to wait till after the 4th July celebrations. Well, we should say, August waited to make his appearance until after the 4th July celebrations. The amount of fireworks that were ignited that night made the whole place sound like a war zone. It is a wonder the little fellow was not scared into being born due to the noise, or perhaps he felt it was safer to be inside the womb than outside with all the racket the fireworks were making. I have no idea how much money was spent, but the after math was bits and pieces of fireworks littering the roads, sidewalks and front lawns. I was amazed to see the lanterns that were floating in the sky. Of course any fireworks no matter how large or small are totally unwelcome in Arizona.....this place is one great tinderbox and a stray spark would level Prescott in short order if it got into the dry grass.
So August arrived and I got to hold him when he was only a few hours old. I have never been near a baby that young before. Sara did well and we are all surprised at how well she did. I made him an outfit for his blessing and I made it out of fabric left over from Sara's wedding gown. Ethan's blessing outfit was of silk charmeuse, Oliver's outfit was made of Silk Dupioni, and Lyla's blessing dress was made of brocaded satin with pretty butterflies woven into it. If Sara has another baby, I have no idea what to make the blessing outfit of - perhaps some patchwork calicoes?????
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