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A Gloomy November And Two Sweet Kids
By Carol Guthmiller
Tripp
As I write this, our driveway looks like a soupy mess. I know it is. I tried walking out to get the mail yesterday and changed my mind, turned around and came back home.
Two days before our inch of snow came the men worked into the wee hours of the morning combining corn, as I am sure many others did. We have lots of acres to go. I hope the sun comes out and the South Dakota winds begin to blow so we don’t have to look at crops standing in the field while we sing “Jingle Bells.” Nothing can bring a celebration down more than if there is still farming to be done.
In Thanksgiving days past, it never failed. The weaned calves would find a way through the fence to get to their mothers. It was just like clockwork. I would look at the calendar and if it said Thanksgiving Day, you knew it was time to sort calves again.
On the brighter side: The two babies I babysit frequently are growing up. Erica will soon celebrate her third birthday, and Luke his first birthday. What a couple of characters. They brighten my life. I will share with you the latest antics and hope not to bore you to death.
Luke, at 10 months, is toddling around davenports, coffee tables, etc. When it is serious business and we need to get somewhere, I will take one of his arms and Erica will take another so we can get there faster. Erika will say, “Here, Lukie, let me help you!”
She isn’t always that generous when sharing toys, however. I have seen her snatch a toy from him, and he will stomp his feet and growl at her. It will be interesting to see what happens when he can finally walk. Right now he is a loveable roly-poly toddler with a ready smile. I can’t remember having such a cuddly loveable child as Luke, and we’ve been privileged to watch lots of babies grow up.
One afternoon when Luke was napping, Erica and I were watching a children’s movie and we came to a scary part.
I said, “I’m not sure we should be watching this,” to which Erica promptly replied, “I’ll cover your eyes, Gramma!”
And the most recent insight into Erica’s character:
It had been a long day of babysitting. Erica and I had made sugar cookies. (The kind you buy in a sack.)
I frosted them and she sprinkled red and green sprinkles atop the white frosting. Of course, we ate a few, so we were both sugared up. The afternoon passed and I took the children home. When we got there we left Luke off and Erica and I went back to town to buy a gallon of milk for their family.
It had been a long time since I have shopped with children so my senses need a bit of sharpening. We found the milk and Erica spotted a sack of powdered donuts and I gave in. We got to the counter and I took her out of the grocery cart while I wrote the check. She immediately headed for the candy counter and found a sack of red licorice. I paid for it and we left, Erica clutching the licorice tightly.
We got her into her car seat and I opened up the sack and gave her one strip of licorice and kept the sack, remembering all the cookies we had eaten that afternoon.
I started for home when I heard Erica say, “Give me the sack,” to which I said “no.” About the third time I heard the same request I replied with an emphatic “NO!”
Expecting tears, instead, I heard a small voice from the back seat say, “Boy, are you going to be tired when you get home!”
I asked, “Why do you say that?”
She replied, “‘Cause when you get mad at me I know you need a nap!”
These two little people keep my life interesting. I cannot believe how fast children develop into little human beings. It is so different from having your own children night and day. These two come and go and sometimes I am as happy to see them go as come. They probably feel the same way so it is — as Martha Stewart would say — a good thing.
Two days before our inch of snow came the men worked into the wee hours of the morning combining corn, as I am sure many others did. We have lots of acres to go. I hope the sun comes out and the South Dakota winds begin to blow so we don’t have to look at crops standing in the field while we sing “Jingle Bells.” Nothing can bring a celebration down more than if there is still farming to be done.
In Thanksgiving days past, it never failed. The weaned calves would find a way through the fence to get to their mothers. It was just like clockwork. I would look at the calendar and if it said Thanksgiving Day, you knew it was time to sort calves again.
On the brighter side: The two babies I babysit frequently are growing up. Erica will soon celebrate her third birthday, and Luke his first birthday. What a couple of characters. They brighten my life. I will share with you the latest antics and hope not to bore you to death.
Luke, at 10 months, is toddling around davenports, coffee tables, etc. When it is serious business and we need to get somewhere, I will take one of his arms and Erica will take another so we can get there faster. Erika will say, “Here, Lukie, let me help you!”
She isn’t always that generous when sharing toys, however. I have seen her snatch a toy from him, and he will stomp his feet and growl at her. It will be interesting to see what happens when he can finally walk. Right now he is a loveable roly-poly toddler with a ready smile. I can’t remember having such a cuddly loveable child as Luke, and we’ve been privileged to watch lots of babies grow up.
One afternoon when Luke was napping, Erica and I were watching a children’s movie and we came to a scary part.
I said, “I’m not sure we should be watching this,” to which Erica promptly replied, “I’ll cover your eyes, Gramma!”
And the most recent insight into Erica’s character:
It had been a long day of babysitting. Erica and I had made sugar cookies. (The kind you buy in a sack.)
I frosted them and she sprinkled red and green sprinkles atop the white frosting. Of course, we ate a few, so we were both sugared up. The afternoon passed and I took the children home. When we got there we left Luke off and Erica and I went back to town to buy a gallon of milk for their family.
It had been a long time since I have shopped with children so my senses need a bit of sharpening. We found the milk and Erica spotted a sack of powdered donuts and I gave in. We got to the counter and I took her out of the grocery cart while I wrote the check. She immediately headed for the candy counter and found a sack of red licorice. I paid for it and we left, Erica clutching the licorice tightly.
We got her into her car seat and I opened up the sack and gave her one strip of licorice and kept the sack, remembering all the cookies we had eaten that afternoon.
I started for home when I heard Erica say, “Give me the sack,” to which I said “no.” About the third time I heard the same request I replied with an emphatic “NO!”
Expecting tears, instead, I heard a small voice from the back seat say, “Boy, are you going to be tired when you get home!”
I asked, “Why do you say that?”
She replied, “‘Cause when you get mad at me I know you need a nap!”
These two little people keep my life interesting. I cannot believe how fast children develop into little human beings. It is so different from having your own children night and day. These two come and go and sometimes I am as happy to see them go as come. They probably feel the same way so it is — as Martha Stewart would say — a good thing.
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