I do remember one incident that occurred while we lived in Southfield Michigan. My sister, Julie was coming to spend a few days, and, since we did not have but one vehicle---and Gary was at work; I decided that Bonnie and I could just walk over to the store to pick up a few items needed for our dinner that night. It was likely just a mile or so away. Bonnie was not quite 3 and I was very pregnant with Christopher! Well, things went just fine UNTIL Bonnie saw that the store had CHOCOLATE MILK!!! She asked me if we could get some. I had very limited funds, and every penny was needed for the essentials. So, I had to tell Bonnie, "No, honey, Mommy can not get that for you today!" Well, Bonnie decided to do something that she had NEVER ever done before! (and fortunately, never ever repeated!) She began to throw the biggest tantrum I had ever witnessed! She SCREAMED! She KICKED! She threw herself on the floor! I was SHOCKED! I was totally embarrassed. This was my first child, and my first introduction into the extremes children will go to, to get their way!
The little manipulators!
Anyway, I know it was the spirit that whispered, "Just continue on with your shopping!" I was in a hurry, and I really did not have time to fight with Bonnie right then, so I did as directed, and I just continued on down the next aisle---leaving Bonnie on the floor, still screaming and crying! (Ok, so it also might have been that I was too pregnant and too tired to bend over and swat her right then and there....)
She was, I think, a bit bewildered that I had just left her behind. Yet, she was not finished with her tantrum and I learned from this, just how tenacious and stubborn my daughter could be! She decided that perhaps I had not heard her I guess, because she began following me, still screaming! There were other customers in the store, and they, understandably, began giving me some of the most hateful stares! I pretended that I did not notice them, or Bonnie! Bonnie carried on throughout the entire store, she could not have performed the role of a spoiled child better!
By the time I had reached the check-out with the items I had come for, she was (and I honestly do not know how she had the strength or the stamina to scream and cry the entire time, without a breath, but that is exactly what she did do!) STILL crying, trying to grab my legs, since I had stopped to unload the cart. By this time, all eyes in the store were upon us, this horrendous spectacle! The cashier, who had heard Bonnie scream for it seemed to us all, an eternity, vocalized what I am sure EVERYONE in the store wondered! She said, "M'am, what is wrong with that child???" I calmly said, "Oh, she wants some chocolate milk!" Then the cashier asked, and I am still baffled to this day at her attitude, "Well, why don't you get it for her??"
I am certain that everyone there would have loved for me to have done just that in order to have peace restored to the store. And, if I had not been in such a bind, and had not needed the items right then, I think I might have just left the store without purchasing anything, as soon as Bonnie had begun her tirade. But, I did not have the luxury of time, and I needed those items! So I could not deal with her behavior until AFTER we had disrupted the entire store for I am guessing, nearly 20 minutes!
I looked that cashier in the eye, and I said as firmly as I have ever responded to anyone,"Do you think that I would EVER GIVE my Child ANYTHING she threw such a fit for???" She will NOT have chocolate milk for a VERY LONG TIME!!!!" I could see that no one there was really concerned with my having a job to do as a parent to extinguish such horrid behavior. All anyone in that store wanted was QUIET! I do not know if anyone watched us as we walked home. I had one arm full of the groceries, and the other hand was spanking Bonnie after each step we took, as I firmly stated that she had never ever behave like that ever again or she would NEVER go to any store with Mommy, ever again!
Bonnie NEVER EVER threw another fit again!
Bonnie did not have to share me until she was almost 3 years old. I remember one incident vividly! I nursed Christopher and then place him in the crib and told Bonnie to play quietly, while her brother slept! But, just seconds later, I heard Bonnie playing with her "marching band set." Do you remember the one made by Fisher Price? It had drums, maracas, cymbals and bells! She began hitting on the drum, while shaking the maracas and bells; making as much noise possible. Then, I heard the cries of a baby. I went to check on Christopher, and low and behold, Bonnie was playing with her marching band as she stood as close as possible to Christopher! What a scamp! Do you think she had some resentment towards Christopher???But, some of my most precious memories of my Bonnie came as a result of paper routes that we had over the course of her years at home. We began doing paper routes as a way to earn money to go to our family reunion in Utah, back in 1992---we were living in Ypsilanti Michigan at this point. I had six children. By the time we had to give up the routes because we were moving to Minnesota, I had 9 children!
We had a 15 passenger van, and I would load all my children into the van. The little ones would roll the papers and bag them. Bonnie, Christopher and Kathryn would do the actual delivery. I would drive down the road, and they would jump out, running down both sidewalks and deliver the papers. I had not even noticed how very fast they had become until we were with our replacement paper people. As they stared in disbelief at the speed of my children's deliveries, they asked if my children were some kind of track stars---they were so very fast as they literally flew down the sidewalks! IT was excellent exercise for them!
While they exercised their bodies, I exercised my mind! I would listen to Rush Limbaugh as I drove our van to do the routes!
Since I homeschooled, we could get out and do the delivery as soon as the papers got to us! OUR customers LOVED that they always received their papers before anyone else in the town! And, they tipped the children well! We made as much in tips at Christmas as we did doing the deliveries all month long!
We had to deliver papers 7 days a week. We would deliver early afternoons Monday-Friday and then, we would get up in the middle of the night---usually around 2-3 am to deliver the papers on Saturdays and Sundays. That way, we did not miss church ever and we had plenty of time to get all the kidlets ready for church!
Once we moved to Minnesota, we tried to get paper routes like we had in Ypsilanti, but we lived in a remote little town, and there just were not the number of routes available. So, Bonnie and I took a motor route. The pay and the hours were actually much better than we had had in Michigan, but, no one tipped us and it was no longer a family venture. But, I loved the one on one time with Bonnie. We would have to report at 4 am and we would be done before 7 am. And, we no longer had to work any weekends! Once Bonnie began going to early morning Seminary, we had to start our deliveries earlier, so that we could be in Anoka, nearly 40 minutes south of us by 6 am!
I cherish my times with Bonnie more than I can express! I will share one last specific incident before closing this post.
Bonnie and I had to take the 15 passenger van this particular day, as we started to do our motor route in Princeton, Minnesota. Usually we tried to take the little Ford Aspire to save on gas, but, Gary needed to leave earlier than normal on this particular day, and so, we had to take that 1 ton van! We had already loaded up all the papers and had just finished doing the "in-town" deliveries. We were headed out the main street. It was just after 4:30 am, and it was DARK! I mean, it was pitch black! Visibility was so limited. I noticed a car in the road just in front of us, and I began to slow down. Too late, I noticed that the car was NOT moving, nor was it inhabited. At that moment of realization, I was alarmed to discover the reason for the vehicle being abandoned! The road was no longer a road, but was just deep mud and that vehicle had become mired in the mud. At that moment, I realized that my tires were no longer on solid ground, and we, too, were getting mired in the mud!
Our situation was desperate. We were NOT just a small car, but a one-ton monster van. And, at 4:30 in the morning, we had no one we could get to help us. We did NOT own a cell-phone, this was back in 1998, and we did not get our first cell phones until nearly a decade later! Bonnie screamed, as she felt us starting to sink. She said, "Mom, what are we going to do?" I said, "Bonnie, just PRAY!" I told her to pray like she had never prayed before! I began fervently praying as well---explaining that we had to get the deliveries done, that I had little babies back home that would be needing me very soon, and we had absolutely no way out of this WITHOUT divine intervention! I explained that I had no idea what lay ahead and so could not possibly have avoided this predicament. While I was still praying, I felt impressed to turn the steering wheel hard to my right, and to push on the gas. This I did, as Bonnie and I continued, without ceasing, our pleadings to the Lord.
Now, I have had answers to prayers all my life. I have felt the spirit of the Lord so very often in my life, and, even been blessed to have miracles occur. So, though, I am always amazed by the power and awesome wonders of the LORD, I have never ever been able to find those experiences common or unremarkable! SO it was again. As I turned the wheel, and pushed the gas pedal, I felt the van being lifted----it was literally being LIFTED out of the mud, and within minutes, we were driving on the grassy shoulder near by.
What an awesome thing, to have a TRUE and LIVING GOD! That does hear and will answer our prayers, our pleadings and petitions in our greatest hours of need! How wonderful too, to share those sacred moments with my children---with Bonnie! My children truly ARE the most important people in my life! I testify that these things are true, and I can not deny them! I am so very humbled that I have been so blessed to witness this and other such miracles, usually as I am just trying to do my best to be the very best mother I can!
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