Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Tolley 'Spots' - And - Teaching Modesty to Three-year-olds


The proper wearing of the dress. As seen here . . .

Our (then) five children had a problem.
All of them.
Chicken pox.
Every little body was covered.
Even the baby.
Sigh.
For a week, I spent my time applying the current ‘itch-free’ salves.
Filling the tub with baking soda and water.
Satisfying odd food cravings.
Did you know that warm brownies and/or chocolate chip cookies make chicken pox itch less?
Well, they do.
Moving on . . .
For our eldest daughter Caitlin, aged three, the chicken pox were an adventure.
An adventure that took a little turn.
Up.
Let me explain . . .
Caitlin would lift her little dress and look at her tummy and exclaim, “Look, Mommy! Chickie Spots!”
“Yes, sweetheart. Put your dress down.”
She was so interested in these spots that she spent most of her time with her dress up around her ears, looking at them.
I would hear her in various rooms of the house, speaking obviously to one or more members of the family. “Look! Chickie Spots!”
Followed by, “Caitlin! Put your dress down!”
Finally, not receiving the excited reaction she wanted, she would return to me.
“Look, Mommy! Chickie Spots!”
“Yes, Sweetheart. Put your dress down. Have a cookie.”
I should have known that she would require a bigger audience.
I should have realized that, to her, anyone coming into the house must be interested in her current fabulous condition.
I didn’t.
My good friend, Tammy came to the door.
I greeted her and she stepped bravely into the ‘plague house’.
We chatted a bit.
Then Caitlin appeared.
I didn’t move fast enough.
Up came the dress.
“Look, Sis ‘Sin! Chickie Spots!”
She laughed and nodded appreciatively. “Yes. You certainly do have the chicken pox.”
At the same time as I was saying, “Caitlin! Put your dress down!”
Sadly, this was only the beginning.
Long after the Chicken Pox had disappeared, Caitlin was still hiking up her little skirts and exclaiming, "Look! Chickie Spots!"
Two things came from this experience.
1.   I always put shorts on under Caitlin’s dresses after that. Little girl panties are cutest when they are hidden.
 2.  The phrase, “Caitlin, put your dress down!” became immortalized in the annals of Tolley history.
Caitlin is grown and married now, with her own little girls.
She has long since learned to keep herself properly covered.
But her youngest insists on pulling her dresses up around her ears.
No spots, yet, but we’re hopeful.


12 comments:

  1. OMG that is soooo cute. I can see her doing that. Mom told me that when I was little I entertained company one day by lifting my dress and saying..."see, new panties". I certainly hope they appreciated those new panties as much as Tammy appreciated the chickie pox.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah. The unveiling of the new panties. A pivotal moment . . .

      Delete
  2. I am smiling on this one.............It brought back a memory of the Chicken Pox at our home. Our children broke out with Chicken Pox during the Christmas Vacation. Our oldest son finally broke out with the Chicken Pox the day school started again.It was a long Christmas Vacation!
    This was a very sweet story!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, so cute! I now have the urge to lift my shirt and say "Look! Chickie Pox!". But no one will know what I'm talking about.

    :-)

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll know! You can show me! Wait . . . that didn't sound right . . .

      Delete
  4. My daughters tell me their child raising adventures and I think "Payback!" But I don't often say it. It's just the nature of things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I keep thinking of the number of times I thought, "I hope you have a child just like you!" Yep. Payback!

      Delete
  5. BAHAHAHA! Sorry, but I needed that!

    Oh the memories... Sigh...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha, my Valentina is very modest now but oh my, she just wanted to be naked when she was home, she just wasn't happy in clothes... she finally likes them... lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so nice when they and their clothes finally get to be good friends!

      Delete

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