Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

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



Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Pox Among Us

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 as 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.

19 comments:

  1. Cute story! But I couldn't really get past "five kids with the chicken pox" - that's a fun parenting moment :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL and falling on the floor.... your mistake was probably giving her that first cookie!! But then, it's always rewarding as a parent to see the apple that falls from that tree!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why didn't I think of that?! Reinforcing dress-lifting behaviour!

      Delete
  3. Hahaha! I was nervous for a second, but happy to hear that there is a happy ending after all...that she grew up keeping her dress down. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. I'm thinking she could easily have become a can-can dancer! :)

      Delete
  4. At some point in time we all realize the importance of keeping the dress down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully while we're still in those little girl panties . . .

      Delete
  5. Lana said what I was thinking!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh another fun; I loved it. I once had all 5 of my 6 children with chicken pox over the Christmas break. Our 15 year old son broke out with them on the first day back to school. Lucky Him~
    Blessings for the smiles on this ne~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll bet that Christmas holiday just went on . . . and on . . .

      Delete
  7. Oh the itching of chicken pox! My kids had it in April, when our days were still warm enough to have cool baths, it was great for cooling that itch. I remember when my sister had it, she was in agony from the itching, but when I got it a couple of weeks later all I had were about three spots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My second son only had two. He just grinned when the others were moaning and groaning . . .

      Delete
  8. I'm never gonna live that one down...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh yes I have fond memories of this natural disaster!

    ReplyDelete

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