Just for Fun

Yesterday I was getting my allergy shot, with all three children in tow, and another woman struck up a conversation with me about children. She told me that she had pulled into the parking lot at her pediatrician’s office and her toddler asked what the sign in front of them said.

Mother: “It says, ‘Patient Parking Only’.”

Toddler: “Mama, you can’t park here. You’re not patient.”

It reminded me, I have no idea why, of a time when Deanna was a toddler. We had all been pretty sick with colds and runny noses for several weeks. We were
visiting my sister and Deanna was kneeling on the floor, cuddling my sister’s beagle dog. She gave him a big kiss on his wet nose, then looked puzzled. She jumped up from the floor, ran and got a Kleenex, held it to the dog’s nose and, in her most motherly voice, bellowed, “Blow!”

Then there was the time that my father and I were stopped at a very long stoplight on our way somewhere. Deanna was buckled in her carseat in the back of the van. Grandpa and I were deep in conversation when Deanna yelled, “School bus. There goes a school bus.” She was enamored by school buses and yelled everytime she saw one. I glanced up to see a bus driving past us on the intersecting road. I responded, “Yes, honey. There goes a school bus. Mommy and Grandpa see it, too.” My father and I returned to our conversation when we heard the cry again, “School bus!! There goes another school bus.” Once again, I looked up to see a school bus passing by. Again, I acknowledged that I had also seen the bus. Grandpa and I attempted our conversation yet again when I heard from the back of the van, “House. There goes a house.” My father and I looked at each other and then quickly looked up. Driving past us was a semi pulling half a double-wide trailer, curtains intact. Deanna had, in fact, seen a house drive past us (or half of it, at least).


When Daelyn was two, I was quizzing him one day about his siblings’ names. I asked him what his brother’s name was. “Deanna?” he asked. “No, son,” I responded. Assuming the next one would be easy I quickly asked, “So, what’s Sissy’s name?” “Dane,” he answered with a grin. Turning to 5 yr. old Dane, I asked, “What do you think we ought to do about this baby of ours?” Without a blink, Dane quickly answered,”I think we ought to put nametags on everyone, Mommy.”

Dane is crazy about worms and fisihing. One day, he was working in the back yard with his father. He ran into the house and excitedly began telling me that they had found a real, live fishing worm - “like the ones we use for fishing, except live!” (We really do use live worms for fishing - I just don’t think he realizes that.) Referring to our vacation two weeks before, when we had gone fishing with live bait, I said, “Like the ones we used in North Carolina, son?” After thinking for a minute, he responded, “Well, sort of like those ones, only not as dirty.”

When Deanna was born, Don and I decided we didn’t need TV for entertainment any longer - we’d just sit around and listen to her. Children sure are fun to have around.

Hope you enjoyed the stories.