We didn't face crises every day. Tammy, Buddy and I had a lot of fun together, too. They were the sweetest kids in the world and loved their Mommy! Yet, they were completely different. Tammy was a needy child....she needed a lot of affection and attention. Buddy didn't. He'd get in my lap for perhaps five minutes and cuddle...then he was squirming to get down. Tammy would sit in my lap, cuddling, for a half hour and when I'd put her down, she'd cry.
We had a routine for weeknights and seldom varied from it, especially after they started school. Supper was at 6...bedtime at 8. But they stretched that 8 rule every night. oh, they'd be in bed, but reading one book to them was never enough...or telling a story. They each had to pick a book...or I had to make up a story for each of them.
Weekends were a different story. Even when I began dating again, I saved either Friday or Saturday night for Tammy and Buddy. In the summer we'd go to the drive-in...usually with a car full of cousins. One Saturday night we all fell asleep....woke up at daylight! And had plans to go to the zoo that day...Sunday. We all went to home...slept about three hours and left to go to the Detroit Zoo. There was three cars full, supposedly following each other. But I had to stop and buy gas and Phyllis didn't stop....she and Avanelle kept going. So, after I left the gas station, I told the kids to keep an eye out for the cops...because I was going to drive like crazy trying to catch up with them.
Sure enough, I got pulled over and got a speeding ticket. When I asked the kids why they didn't tell me...their answer was that I didn't tell them to tell me when they saw a police car...just to watch for one.
We had a great day at the zoo....and Buddy and I got burned badly. This was before sunscreen. I bought hats for us but they only protected our foreheads. Tammy didn't burn...she just got darker.
Buddy had a speech impediment until he had a speech therapist work with him in the first and second grades. I was the only person who could understand him...even though Avanelle eventually could. When we went to the bank on Saturday, this teller we always went to would give Buddy a quarter for saying ...truck. You can imagine why.
Tammy started school when she was four...turning five the first of October. Buddy was really upset because he couldn't go to school too. This was the first time they had ever been separated. Of course, I was working...but Avanelle said every day Buddy would stand at the window watching for her and ask every half hour when is Tammy coming home...and on nice days, she'd have to take him and Debbie...her youngest was the same age as Buddy...walking down to the school to meet Tammy. Then Buddy was a happy child again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment