Whoo wee! I thought I was a pretty good grandma. I thought I had it all together when it comes to watching little ones.
Boy, was I wrong. Well, not wrong so much as I forgot a lot.
Like how much energy a 2-year-old has. And how many times they can ask ‘why?’ in a day.
I forgot how much work the little rascals are. Or how often they want to go feed the chickens, which is code speak for chasing the chickens. The chickens do not like to be chased.
I had forgotten how difficult it is to say ‘Heck on fire’ when what you want to say is ‘$^*&)(*(YVC)())&( ‘ because you just burned your thumb.
There is the constant watching and following so that they don’t get into anything dangerous which is now in every room of the house since our ‘baby’ is close to 25.
I forgot about being pulled by the hand by a little one saying ‘Come on, grandma’ and how wonderful it is to be called grandma.
But I remembered the joy of bumping down the stairs on one’s bum, especially if one is under 5. And the fascination of a colander and putting coins in the piggy bank. Over and over and over.
I relearned the words to the ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ but digital children do not always know the hand signals that go with that song. It was fun to teach it again.
I recalled the interest with which measuring is viewed, and how delightful washing dishes is to a child. Not to me, I hate them and always will.
With a little time spent with the world shut out and a dust cloth in hand, I had a long look back into my not so distant past as a stay at home mom with a houseful of children – my own, and the neighbors’ and a few various strays that stopped over to see what was going on at our house.
And in all that recollecting, I had a burning question when I remember that at some point nearly every day there were nine or more children in my home.
Were you absolutely nuts?
No, not really. I loved that time in my life and I miss it sometimes. So a very great thank you to the young couple who trusted me with their precious little one for a few hours. It was a great reminder and a lot of fun.
But boy, am I pooped! On a more serious note, tonight the city council will take up the resume of a man they would like to hire as the city manager. He has been in these parts quite a while, at Guthrie and Enid, so he is acclimated to our delightful weather. And he won’t miss Chicago or New York or Dallas. He is used to small town Oklahoma.
That’s all good. I hope the city has done its due diligence, so we know what we are getting. I hope the prospective manager knows what the strengths and weaknesses of our town are. I hope he knows what he is getting into.
I believe and always will believe in this town, in its potential and that it will grow and change and become more than it ever was. We need the people to get behind it, a manager who is willing to work like a rented mule and how to navigate the murky waters of infrastructure and grant proposals.
But most of all, I hope whoever is hired is going to become part of this community. I want to see them at the grocery store or picking up a prescription and speak to them and have them answer me by name. I hope they eat lunch at the senior center every couple of weeks.
Because it is that kind of connection we need with a manager so that we as citizens know our vision for this town is shared and that we are all working toward it together. Yes, we need a leader, but we also need a friendly face backed up by someone who has the best interest of the city at heart.