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| Oh, the places we went . . . |
Something she did often.
Because.
I should mention also that, when Mom washed the floor, she WASHED the floor.
Everything portable was carried into the next room.
She got down on her knees with a pail of hot, soapy water and scrubbed.
Then she applied wax.
Then she ran the polisher. Which looked like a big, green bug on a long stick.
Just FYI.
The floor shone like a mirror. Perfect for sliding on with stocking feet.
But this story isn't about that.
This story starts where she carted the portable stuff into the next room . . .
As soon as the chairs appeared in the living room, George and I would materialize from what ever places we had disappeared into when Mom announced that she needed helpers to wash the floors.
Ahem . . .
We would line the chairs up, one behind the other.
Voila! Bus.
George would be the bus driver and I would be the lady with the 400 children riding in the back.
Okay, you're right. I didn't have 400 children.
But I did have 400 stuffed animals.
Sheesh. You're such a stickler for details.
Moving on . . .
Happily, we played until Mom finished with the floors and came out to dismantle our playground.
Actually, it was the one time in the week that George and I did play happily together.
A thing of note.
Oh, the places we went.
The children we dropped out of the windows and off benches.
Good times.
An aside: the couch worked well for a bus, too, but there was just something about articles of furniture sitting where they usually . . . didn't . . . that inspired – play.
Moving ahead many, many years.
Yesterday, some of our grandchildren were over for a visit.
Two of the kids had lined up several of grandma's stools.
I was holding granddaughter number five.
So I was instructed that I could be the mommy in the back with the baby.
Number three grandson, announced that he would drive.
It was then that I realized - they were playing bus.
I sat in the back as I had been told and I had to smile.
Suddenly, I was four years old again.
It was a good feeling.
Playing with kids is so great...you just go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteThey have so much imagination!
DeleteWho needs video games and ipods? We used to have so much fun playing fort with a coffee table and a blanket :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember those days! The blanket fort . . .
DeleteGreat imaginations are helped along by such things! My kids used to do the same (because I did what your mom did and moved the kitchen chairs into the family room ...).
ReplyDeleteAnd you've sparked another memory for me. When I was about 7, or 8, or maybe 9, or maybe all of those, every summer I would play with my dolls and stuffed animals outside. I'd round up a few small boxes, tie them together and play "parade". I loved parades, and we always went to the local July 1st parade, so I had lots of "experience" in that area :) I had to play alone a lot because we lived too far from other kids, had no car for many years, and my brother was too old to want to play with me, but I had a lot of fun doing things like that by myself.
Parade! Now why didn't I think of that?! My dad was a great one for parades. We went to all of the local spectacles every year. As far away as Calgary! Loved them!
DeleteI remember my mother using a floor polisher ... ours was tan. Can't say that I have ever polished a floor - but I do wash mine on occasion!
ReplyDeleteYeah. Mine gets washed, too. Occasionally . . .
DeleteThank you for this trip down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for joining us. Tickets, please . . .
DeleteMy kids used to do the same thing! except they didn't wait for me to be washing the floor. They just lined up the chairs any old day. My youngest used to collect discarded bus tickets from our local driver, so J was the driver every time and he would hand out tickets to the kids and toys on"his" bus.
ReplyDeleteNow that is clever! Though I daily rode the school bus - for hours - I never rode on public transportation (city bus) until I was an adult. What a treat that was!
DeleteMom used to do the same thing and we would make forts out of the chairs and an old sheet!
ReplyDeleteThe very best of memories! :)
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