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.
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.
ReplyDeleteAh. The unveiling of the new panties. A pivotal moment . . .
DeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very sweet story!
Then you needed a vacation from your vacation . . .
DeleteOh, 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.
ReplyDelete:-)
Pearl
I'll know! You can show me! Wait . . . that didn't sound right . . .
DeleteMy 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.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking of the number of times I thought, "I hope you have a child just like you!" Yep. Payback!
DeleteBAHAHAHA! Sorry, but I needed that!
ReplyDeleteOh the memories... Sigh...
Such sweet memories!
DeleteHaha, 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
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice when they and their clothes finally get to be good friends!
Delete