Juneau - Oopsy daisy

oopsydaisy

slice-of-life stories from a mother of nine9

byMelanie Jean Juneau

Smashwords Edition

copyright: 2015Melanie Jean Juneau

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you fordownloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted propertyof the author, and may not be redistributed to others forcommercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book,please encourage your friends to download their own copy from theirfavorite authorized retailer. Thank you for yoursupport.

Tableof Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Are We All Here? Anyone Missing?

Chapter 2: Eco-Friendly Grass Trimmers

Chapter 3: Visions of Worms Dancing in His Head

Chapter 4: Thwarted by a Tiny Twirp

Chapter 5: Children Are Like Sponges

MeetMelanie

Connect

Introduction

Life at ourfarmhouse was often overwhelming with eleven personalities living,working and playing together. Luckily, I have a wicked sense ofhumour and just enough grace to remain serene in the eye of ahurricane, the CEO of my chaotic domain. I found coping with onechild horrendous and two a strain, yet life with three was easy.With three kids, a sense of a community started for me, a communitywhere all the members helped each other. In this chaotic communityhundreds of comic episodes occurred because some things can onlyhappen when you put nine kids together on a farm.

Chapter 1: Are We All Here? Anyone Missing?

Listen as Istruggled to gather my crew every night for a familymeal.

"Oh good, youredone barn chores. Perfect timing; dinner is almostready."

"Two moreminutes, everybody!"

"Joseph Illhelp after we eat, okay?"

"Mary, pleaserun up and open Jeans door and shut off the music."

'Dinner isready!"

"Grace, I knowyou love that book sweetheart but, remember, no reading at thedinner table."

"WheresMark?"

"Honey would youlift up Daniel into the high chair?"

"Are we allhere? Anyone missing?"

Ah, dinner timein a large family.

Dinner was thehighlight of the day with everyone clambering to share their newsor simply squeeze in comments into the cacophony of voices. It wasa humorous symphony which sounded perfectly in tune to my ears.High pitched baby squeals combined with loud, boisterous littleboys.and the quavering of a male teen voice balanced teenage girl'schatter. Dads reassuring bass tones soothed my shrill calls foreveryone to listen to the toddlers newest word. The highlight ofthis often unruly symphony was the spontaneous laughter punctuatingthe entire meal.

Life around thedinner table was relaxed and happy because I allowed my children tobehave in age appropriate ways. I did not demand adult perfection.The consequences of this decision were messy but well worth thetime it took to mop up after meal time. It meant I did not shovelneat, tidy mouthfuls of food into a toddler because we let littlepeople feed themselves as soon as they reached for the spoon. Itmeant including three-year olds in meal prep, sending five andsix-year olds running out to the garden for vegetables and allowinga ten-year old to make the dessert. In other words we valuedparticipation over a neat and tidy kitchen and orderly mealtimes.

Now I am reapingthe rewards of decisions which sent some visitors into sputtering,spirals of incredulity as they eyed my kitchen and the messy facesof my little people after a meal. I feel vindicated when I look atmy grown-up kids; they all love to cook and entertain, especiallyfor each other. Just drop by for a quick hello and inevitably theywill cajole you to stay for a delicious meal.

It is a simplefact- there is no better way to form deep relationships thanconversation over a home-cooked meal. In fact there is no betterway to encourage the development of a warm supportive family thanwith great food and relaxed conversation around the dinnertable.

God delightsmore in joyful chaos than in miserable, tightperfection.

Chapter 2: Eco-Friendly Grass Trimmers

Our pet guineapig pushed his luck one day when I discovered why guinea pigs arecalled pigs. It's because they eat just like real pigs that'swhy.

I was losingpatience with ours; every time I opened the fridge the littlerodent would squeak like crazy, begging for another vegetable.Irritated one day, I marched out into our garden with a solution. Ipulled out an entire stalk of broccoli, hurried back to our tinykitchen and stuffed the entire cage with greens and the thick,fibrous stalk. The wire door couldn't even closecompletely.

The next morningthe entire plant was gone, only a few tough, stringy fibers wereleft. When I opened the fridge door, the guinea pig startedsquealing for food once more. I couldn't believe it; his stomachshould have burst open.

Then I madeanother quick decision.

No able-bodiedhuman or animal would live in my house without contributing in someway to our household. I decided this particular animal was going totrim the grass around the house. I gathered the oldest four kidstogether and explained we were taking the bottom off the cage andplacing it right beside the house where there were no gardens.Every few hours, someone would move the cage.

It was abrilliant idea.

The kids thoughtit was hilarious because a guinea pig would have a household chore.I was pleased to have a little more peace in thekitchen.

However, Iforgot to consider we lived in the country. Foxes, coyotes, wolvesand even owls love to snack on rodents. One morning the cage wasknocked over and all that was left of this little guinea pig washis gizzard. Five-year old Joseph was sure it was no ordinarypredator who attacked our guinea pig. No, it was definitely a big,black bear because Joseph was convinced he could see, "The big,bloody, footprints down the lane!"

Chapter 3: Visions of Worms Dancing in His Head

All my childrenhave the same parents and have lived in basically the sameenvironment. Yet each child inherited not only different physicalgenes but different character traits as well. This gene pool islarger than I ever dreamed it could be.The differences between myoffspring are mind-boggling. Actually the truth is every person iscompletely different. My two oldest children are dramaticexamples.

My first child,Mark, was and still is serious. At eleven or twelve months, hewould sit and slowly place household objects in a plastic jug afterobserving each object carefully. He would then dump them out andstart all over again, all in silence.When Mark was only four,Michael taught him how to play checkers. Both men would sit insilence, contemplating each move.

When my secondchild, Jean, was born everything we thought we knew about childdevelopment blew up. Where Mark was cautious, she was daring. Shewas only nine or ten months old, when I walked into the kitchen andfound her sitting on the fridge! I froze in shock and yelled forher father to come see because I knew no one would ever believe mewithout a witness.

Michael, myhusband, decided a child was ready to play checkers by four. SinceMark picked the game up quickly, he figured all his kids wouldfollow suit. After only ten minutes of playing with his daughter,Michael was frustrated; Jean was standing up, hopping from foot tofoot and jumping checkers backwards and forwards, skipping two,three, four squares at a time.

Finally, Iintervened and said, Honey, I dont think Jean will ever playcheckers like Mark; youre just going to have to let go and go withthe flow. Although he managed to survive the first checker gamewith his daughter, Michael didnt play checkers with Jean foranother few years.

Jean? She washappy doing her own thing, happy to leave that particular boringactivity to the men in the family.

Every child isunique. I originally believed everything could be explained in mydog-eared book on child development. My children soon shatteredthis myth. Of course, general guidelines hold true but ultimatelyit is up to the parents to intuitively and tentatively discoverwhich approach clicks with each little person.