My mother used to say, “They only give children to the young people.” I used to, at that age think, “That’s not true, I know lots of older parents.” But….let me tell you, no truer statement has ever been said!
I remember so well, great memories, of my little boys growing up. We lived in Arkansas and had no grand parental babysitters, so they were ours 24/7. I can also remember how much devilment they got into like climbing trees and hanging upside down, hiding from me for an hour until I was crying and calling their daddy to come home and help me find them, making horrendous messes and me having to clean house two or three times a day. But in all defenses of their mischievousness, I was many years younger as I chased the little troublemakers around.
We had our little girl, Emmie Jo, last weekend for three days and this is the third day after, and we are still going to bed before dark for the past three nights and grabbing a nap whenever possible. She has decided she likes to sleep between us in our big bed. She sleeps; we do not. She is so full of energy, umph, and oomph.
If she ever got quiet, we have learned not to just enjoy the tranquility but to move, with haste and find her because she is entertaining herself in some way that will only end with woe for us. For instance, last Saturday I was busy in the kitchen, and she was on one of her meddling sprees and I found her in my makeup drawer painting her face with eyeshadow. She was simply adorable but hey, I had to clean her up.
I have not installed the safety catches on my cabinets, so I use rubber bands wrapped around the pulls. She gets so agitated she tries to bite the rubber bands into and, sometimes she triumphs. I used to have a cabinet dedicated to grocery plastic bags, but after picking up the countless heaps, I decided I didn’t need them after all.
But here’s the good and enjoyable part. She is our hearts! She is our first little girl born into this family in forty-one years. Yes, she is so spoiled, bossy, must have her way 99 percent of the time, has us eating out of her tiny hands, and such a joy for all our family. All she has to do is give us a big smooch and we are once again ready for several more weekends.
I don’t get to cook much when she is here so here’s an easy recipe. I can handle this even with our sweet little “prospector” digging.
Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings
32 ounces of chicken broth, can of cream of chicken soup, 2 cups shredded cooked chicken, 2 cans of refrigerated biscuits, salt and pepper
Heat chicken broth until boiling and add cream of chicken soup. Add chicken. Cut biscuits into small pieces, about 8 pieces per biscuit, and put in broth. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
