Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

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



Monday, February 20, 2012

The Pros and Cons of Plastic -or- Beautiful = Fragile

The picture of formality . . .

My husband's sister loves to entertain.
And she does it well.
Beautiful china, fine crystal stemware, heavy silver utensils.
China and crystal serving platters.
Everything beautiful and perfect.
She even insists that the children be included.
Crystal and all.
And that is where our story begins . . .
We had been invited to the Williams home to celebrate a momentous occasion.
I don't remember which momentous occasion.
A birthday or something else noteworthy.
The important point is that we had been invited.
And we were excited to go.
Moving on . . .
We arrived.
We were the proud parents of two sons at that point in time.
An infant and a two-year-old.
The latter of which was sat on a booster seat among the shining, beautiful appointments on the table.
His mother was . . . how shall I say this . . . concerned.
But dinner was announced.
And duly consumed.
Completely without mishap.
Miracles do occur.
We were sitting at the table, visiting.
Digesting happily.
Our youngest son had been put to bed and our eldest was playing with toys and cousins on the floor at our feet.
A peaceful, blissful scene.
Our son stood up and toddled over to me.
"Drink!" he demanded.
At least that is what I translated it to say.
It sounded a bit different in 'toddler'.
My sister-in-law handed me a crystal goblet of water.
"Here," she said.
I held the glass for my son.
He clamped his teeth into the side.
As he did with all of the Tupperware glasses we had at home.
And immediately bit out a small, moon-shaped piece of fine crystal.
I shrieked and dropped the glass.
The pried his mouth open.
He hadn't swallowed.
What did I say about miracles?
We were able to retrieve the little piece of crystal, intact, from my son's mouth.
No injuries occurred.
But the lesson remained.
From then on, whenever we sat to dine with my husband's sister, everyone had fine china, crystal and silverware.
Except my children.
With their sharp teeth.
And their indestructible Tupperware.
The brightly-coloured plastic might have been a jarring note in an otherwise picture-perfect setting.
But it was safe.
As every family gathering should be.

8 comments:

  1. I hope your sister in law had the sharp edges of that moon shaped hole filed smooth so she could keep the glass and tell the story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sadly, she chucked it. But the story lives on . . . seared into our memories!

      Delete
  2. Oh Lord.....I have the shivers every time my daughter hands my grandson a glass...I try to have the plastic at the ready but sometimes....
    Thank goodness he didn't cut his mouth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! I had nightmares about what would have happened if he had swallowed it . . .

      Delete
  3. Well that was her fault not yours lol
    You do not give kids glass to drink from

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I so agree, LL! Beautiful and classy has its place - but not in a two-year-old's mouth! :)

      Delete
  4. Yikes that was a close call, Bet your Sister in law didn't offer up glass goblets to any other children after that LOL Thanks for sharing on the NOBH

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know, I think she kept up the tradition. Brave girl!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting! Drop by again!

Real Estates: All Murders Included in the Price!

Real Estates: All Murders Included in the Price!
My FIRST murder mystery!

Blessed by a Curse

Blessed by a Curse
My very first Medieval Romance!

God's Tree

God's Tree
For the Children

Third in the series

Third in the series
Deborah. Fugitive of Faith

The Long-Awaited Sequel to Daughter of Ishmael

The Long-Awaited Sequel to Daughter of Ishmael
A House Divided is now available at all fine bookstores and on Amazon.com and .ca!

Daughter of Ishmael

Daughter of Ishmael
Now available at Amazon.com and .ca and Chapters.ca and other fine bookstores.

Romance still wins!

Romance still wins!
First romance in a decade!

Hosts: Your Room's Ready

Hosts: Your Room's Ready
A fun romp through the world's most haunted hotel!

Hugs, Delivered.

Compass Book Ratings

Compass Book Ratings

Ghost of the Overlook

Ghost of the Overlook
Need a fright?

My Granddaughter is Carrying on the Legacy!

My Granddaughter is Carrying on the Legacy!
New Tween Novel!

Gnome for Christmas

Gnome for Christmas
The newest in my Christmas Series

SnowMan

SnowMan
A heart warming story of love and sacrifice.

Translate

My novel, Carving Angels

My novel, Carving Angels
Read it! You know you want to!

My Second Novel: Kris Kringle's Magic

My Second Novel: Kris Kringle's Magic
What could be better than a second Christmas story?!

Join me on Maven

Connect with me on Maven

Essence

Essence
A scientist and his son struggle to keep their earth-shattering discovery out of the wrong hands.

Essence: A Second Dose

Essence: A Second Dose
Captured and imprisoned, a scientist and his son use their amazing discovery to foil evil plans.

Looking for a Great Read?

E-Books by Diane Stringam Tolley
Available from Smashwords.com

The Babysitter

The Babysitter
A baby-kidnapping ring has its eye on J'Aime and her tiny niece.

Melissa

Melissa
Haunted by her past, Melissa must carve a future. Without Cain.

Devon

Devon
Following tragedy, Devon retreats to the solitude of the prairie. Until a girl is dropped in his lap.

Pearl, Why You Little...

Pearl, Why You Little...
Everyone should spend a little time with Pearl!

The Marketing Mentress

The Marketing Mentress
Building solid relationships with podcast and LinkedIn marketing

Coffee Row

Coffee Row
My Big Brother's Stories

Better Blogger Network

Semper Fidelis

Semper Fidelis
I've been given an award!!!

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award
My good friend and Amazing Blogger, Marcia of Menopausal Mother awarded me . . .

Irresistibly Sweet Award

Irresistibly Sweet Award
Delores, my good friend from The Feathered Nest, has nominated me!

Sunshine Award!!!

Sunshine Award!!!
My good friend Red from Oz has nominated me!!!

My very own Humorous Blogger Award From Delores at The Feathered Nest!

Be Courageous!


Grab and Add!

Search This Blog

Ghost of the Overlook

Ghost of the Overlook
Need a fright?