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Turtle Tales
by Carol Breidenbach
Out of the mouth of babes
27 February 2001
Several weeks ago when a co-worker’s dog died, she was comforted by the words of her son, Jared. He said: “Jesus snuck in the back door and took our pet to heaven”. It made me think of all the times my children had words of wisdom to fit the occasion.
One summer when I was going to take my children to the library, I sent eight-year-old Chip back into the house to wash his face and comb his hair. He said, “Why do I have to do that, everybody in the library knows us and we are just going to pick out some books”. Our five-year-old Lisa replied, “She wants us to look like she is a good mother”.
Angela and a friend from kindergarten, Chrissy, were playing with Barbie Dolls. Chrissy said, “Why do the boys at school point to girl’s boobies and laugh?”. Angela replied, “If those boys knew God gave them to mothers to feed their babies, they would not laugh”.
When we moved to Defiance it was a really crazy time of trying to settle in a new home, settle children in school, speech therapy, music lesson, 4-H and other positive activities. To top it off, the black swamp area set off Angela’s allergies.
One night when I was venting my frustrations to my then 11-year-old daughter, Angela, she replied, “Mom, I think it is time you find some adult friends to talk to”.
One day during my children’s summer vacation from school, I return home from work to find that my feet stuck to the kitchen floor. Someone had spilled at least a gallon of lemonade all over the kitchen. Who? You know the routine – not me, not I, dunno – yes you do know the routine. I instantly turned into Volcano mom! In the middle of my eruption, the phone rang, “Well hello Mrs. Smith, of course I can show you that house.”
In the background, I heard my daughter Lisa say to her brother: “I wonder what Mom’s clients would think if she talked to them like she just talked to us.” I never forgot those very perceptive words and have since tried to speak to my children with the same restraint and respect that I would speak to clients and adult friends.
One time Chip and a neighbor boy were coming into our home. I over heard Chip say: “Scott, wipe your muddy feet on the rug. If you track mud in the house, Mom makes you wipe it up with a wet paper towel and it is just easier to wipe your feet in the first place”.
Two weeks ago when I was waiting in my car to cross Shoop Avenue, I noticed two little girls walking on the sidewalk toward me. As they noticed that I had the crosswalk blocked, they started to slow down. Not seeing a break in traffic, I backed up and motioned to them to cross in front of me.
When they got directly in front of my car, one of them gave me a thumbs up sign and a big smile of approval. Her little gesture of appreciation still gives me warm feelings. We should all be so kind!
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