I was reading a blog this morning written by a mom of two boys who live on the west coast. No snow = can't use Christmas sleds. That post again, jogged my memory of when my oldest children were small. We lived in South Dakota so we always had snow and cold weather.
The memories I have though, are of my little ones screaming and laughing and after about two or three minutes wanting to go back in. They were so cute with their apple red cheeks and "outdoor" voices when they came in to warm up.
They always wanted hot chocolate to warm up and maybe a cookie or two. Once they were warm, the proclamations began that they were ready to go back outside. My thoughts" What?" In the winter, the majority of my time I spent changing, snowsuits, mittens, stocking caps and,oh don't forget snowboots and stockings!
The snow that came out and or off mittens and hats didn't always land on the scatter rug, but on the floor, very cold to step in. Ick.
My oldest, was very independent and insisted on doing for herself regardless if it drove me nuts. She wasn't very tall at four years old, but invariable when I went to open the door for her to go out, she said in a very loud voice, "I do it!" My answer for her would be "but with your mittens on you can't turn the door knob." I wanted to growl and stomp my feet, but for the most part, I kept my cool. It wasn't worth the effort as far as I was concerned. I hated temper tantrums. However, if I didn't help her then she yelled for me to help her. How is a mom supposed to win? Maybe dream of daughter having children of her own?
Hello, today I am going to tell you about my sister's little girl, Julie Anne, or as Rosie would sometimes call her, Jule. I believe that she was named after her dad's mother and of course me.
I can remember my sister just shaking her head and asking me, "How do you do it?" Of course, I had no idea what she meant. She said, "I put Julie in bed after her bath and in the morning, she is dirty." We laughed like two normal moms in love with our children no matter, clean or dirty.
Julie was a very active little girl, again I am going to compare her to Melanie. Melanie would wake up and babble to herself waiting for me to go get her. Julie would wake up raring to go once the sun came up. She would "walk" her crib until her mother caught her on the run!
When Julie was little she had a love for horses. When she was small she had a severe accident with a horse that caused the whole family to pray for her to live through the night. She did do that. That accident brought her family together as a whole unit.
Julie grew up close to her grandmother, my mother. She and my sister lived close by her. Mom taught Julie some things she never accomplished with me; crocheting and knitting. Mom started to "try" with me when I was about eight and continued until I was about thirty four.
Mom kept telling me it was relaxing. She would crochet and watch television as I know a lot of people do. It made me so nervous; the yarn got so tight on the hook I could hardly get it off. It didn't make me feel any better when she told me that she was doing it independently when she was eight; made her own clothes when she was eleven and on and on.
The hands on teaching "took" with Julie, because she continues to do those things for her children and I think I have heard she makes gifts for her friends and relatives.
Our whole family was blessed when Julie Anne came to be with our family. Miss you, my dear.
Aunt Lu
