Andrew
When Andrew was born my organizational skills went right out the window for a while. I have lots of neat memories of him as a little guy - but also a nightmare of a time I could have lost him. He had taken his trike 3 blocks down the street - crossing 3 streets! He was no more than 3 - if that! I had started helping one of his sisters clean out her closet and was thinking his older brother was keeping an eye on him. (My fault) After a few minutes I went to check on him and saw a lady coming down the street with him as he was pulling his trike. She told me that he had made it down to the store parking lot on the corner of our street and Main. A teenage neighbor boy happened along - who knew who he was - so they walked him back home. Whenever I hear of some tragedy involving a child and people criticizing the parent/s for not being on the ball - my heart just aches. I think I will go to my grave feeling the pain of what might have happened. It did occur to me that it was my payback for what I did to my mom (taking off to parts unknown) when I was little.
(Hmm...I was also the 5th child)
When he was a little tyke (1 year or so) he liked to get right in where the action was which resulted once, in knocking over a bucket full of water which I was using to wash the kitchen floor....on my hands and knees. (I always hated that job) The ultimate result was that I learned that LOTS of water was the key to getting a really clean floor! That was thanks to toddler Andrew.
When he was 13 mos. old he would cause a stir by standing up on a little child's rocking chair we had. We were all afraid he would fall so we'd get pretty excited. That made it more interesting for him! Other times when Adam (age 10 or 11) would be on the floor watching T.V. Andrew would sit right next to him sucking his thumb and holding on to the edge of Adam's shirt. He played with Aaron most since they were closer in age. Andrew's 2 most used words during those earlier years were ... Me too!
At about 5 he had a best friend who lived 3 houses up the street. Whenever I had to call him home I soon learned I was spared the job - if the fire alarm went off. For some reason that spooked Andy and if he was at his friends house he would come running home. One day I needed to call him for lunch and the alarm went off so I just waited - and watched - and sure enough I could see Andrew running down the sidewalk toward our house. :-)
A few months after he started school Andrew was already reading. By the end of 1st grade he was well into the 2nd grade level. In middle school Andrew went through a stage when he would forget his homework. It wasn't that he didn't DO it - it was just that he would forget to bring it to school! I have to smile when I remember his teacher at a parent/teacher conference shaking his head and asking me how we could get him to remember to bring his work to school! By the end of middle school Andrew had tackled that problem.
When Andrew was in high school we considered the sunroom his personal living room. He had multiple speakers in there. (10?...or more?) He often brought several friends home at once. At first I worried about how neat the house looked but then I had to let that go and relax....since I never knew when the front door would open and a troop of young people would come in.
One quality I love about Andrew is his smile....starting as a little guy. He's a people person. I am proud of him and grateful that he came into our lives. The memories of his growing up here are cherished.
(Hmm...I was also the 5th child)
When he was a little tyke (1 year or so) he liked to get right in where the action was which resulted once, in knocking over a bucket full of water which I was using to wash the kitchen floor....on my hands and knees. (I always hated that job) The ultimate result was that I learned that LOTS of water was the key to getting a really clean floor! That was thanks to toddler Andrew.
When he was 13 mos. old he would cause a stir by standing up on a little child's rocking chair we had. We were all afraid he would fall so we'd get pretty excited. That made it more interesting for him! Other times when Adam (age 10 or 11) would be on the floor watching T.V. Andrew would sit right next to him sucking his thumb and holding on to the edge of Adam's shirt. He played with Aaron most since they were closer in age. Andrew's 2 most used words during those earlier years were ... Me too!
At about 5 he had a best friend who lived 3 houses up the street. Whenever I had to call him home I soon learned I was spared the job - if the fire alarm went off. For some reason that spooked Andy and if he was at his friends house he would come running home. One day I needed to call him for lunch and the alarm went off so I just waited - and watched - and sure enough I could see Andrew running down the sidewalk toward our house. :-)
A few months after he started school Andrew was already reading. By the end of 1st grade he was well into the 2nd grade level. In middle school Andrew went through a stage when he would forget his homework. It wasn't that he didn't DO it - it was just that he would forget to bring it to school! I have to smile when I remember his teacher at a parent/teacher conference shaking his head and asking me how we could get him to remember to bring his work to school! By the end of middle school Andrew had tackled that problem.
When Andrew was in high school we considered the sunroom his personal living room. He had multiple speakers in there. (10?...or more?) He often brought several friends home at once. At first I worried about how neat the house looked but then I had to let that go and relax....since I never knew when the front door would open and a troop of young people would come in.
One quality I love about Andrew is his smile....starting as a little guy. He's a people person. I am proud of him and grateful that he came into our lives. The memories of his growing up here are cherished.
1 comment:
HI Jean,
Thanks for sharing this writeup on Andrew. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
LOL,
Ronda
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