Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

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



Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Parenting Fail

Chris, Jerry and Dad.
Background: The RIVER
Eeeeek.
Sometimes, in our best efforts to raise and protect our children, we blow it.
My Mom was amazing, but even she had her moments . . .
My eldest sister, Chris, was a wanderer.
On a ranch, that is never good.
Mom often was forced to perform herculean feats in order to keep her small daughter safe. (See here.)
Hmm . . . Training for a few years down the road when another small daughter would try her patience?
And her ingenuity?
But I digress . . .
She tried many different things.
And, on one occasion, resorted to ‘reason’.
With less-than-stellar results.
Three-year-old Chris was very fond of wandering down beside the river that flowed past the ranch house.
At times, Mom had to physically pluck her daughter from the very jaws of death.
Finally, she decided to try something that would encourage Chris to police herself.
She told her small daughter that it was dangerous to walk near the river.
Because there was a giant octopus that lived there.
And it would get her if she got too close.
Chris stared at her mother wide-eyed.
“Octopus?”
“Octopus,” Mom said knowledgably.
“Oh.”
Mom went back to her chores, happy in the knowledge that her little girl would now stay far from the wicked river’s banks.
A few minutes later, she looked up to see that, not only had her daughter disappeared, but her even smaller son.
Sighing, Mom began her search.
Even though she knew that the probability of the two of them heading for the river with the ravening, slavering octopus living there, her footsteps just naturally turned her in that direction.
Good thing, too.
Because it was there on the river bank that she found her intrepid duo.
Chris had toddler Jerry’s hand and was leading him along the bank.
Encouraging him to look out into the water and see if he could spot the octopus.
Yeah. Parenting fail.


20 comments:

  1. Hmm. Reminds of the escapades us kids would get up to, especially at the malls... and me getting lost was because YOU kept moving while I was standing still to look at something! Not MY fault! :P

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  2. A child's curiosity can be a force to be reckoned with!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My daughter had the bad habit of running out the front door of our house every time I would get her out of the bathtub. She would be running down the sidewalk buck naked. It used to crack my neighbors up! Thank God she grew out of that one (at I hope she did!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heehee! 'I hope she did'. Yeah.What's cute as a toddler is seldom cute as an adult . . . :)

      Delete
  4. A giant octopus? Now that's creative.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We had our creeks too. How our mother kept her sanity I will never know.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your posts are always entertaining. I am smiling on this one.
    Blessings to you for the smiles today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, LeAnn! Thank you for visiting every day.
      And being entertained! :)

      Delete
  7. "A" for effort, Mom! My Mother and Grandmother used to tell us the DARNDEST lies! My Nana told us if we sat cross-legged too long we would get blood clots. Why? Who knows. She also told us that our boogers were worms, and if we ate them we would have tons of worms in our bellies. I don't know if my brother ever believed them, but I just thought (and still think) they were Mad as Hatters :) Cute, great imaginations, but cookoo pants!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bwahahahaha! Great imaginations indeed! Cookoo Pants! Love it!

      Delete
  8. Oh dear! I'm rather glad your mum's instincts took her to the river.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely post! The things children get up to, sometimes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I look at my sister who is a wife, mother and grandmother and wonder how she ever got here!

      Delete

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