The Little Red Rocking Chair

My father found employment in Arkansas in or around Greenwood, but I am not sure what kind of work he did at that time.  In later years he lived and worked in Wichita and Great Bend, Kansas, as a carpenter and helped build houses.  During the time in Arkansas, he met a pretty girl named Mildred and they married on November 22, 1944. 

As a toddler I continued to live with my paternal grandparents; however, there was a short span of time that I stayed with my father and stepmother around the time their first child, Kathy, was born in 1945.  I remember Kathy in the bassinet and I thought she was a doll for me to play with.  I was four years old by then.  I loved being with my dad and stepmother--she would dress me in cute dresses and fix my hair.  Then one day we all went to a portrait studio for a family picture.  My daughter has the picture and I have to admit that I was pretty adorable in it with a sprinkle of freckles on my nose and short brown, curly hair, thanks to my stepmother who religiously curled my hair because it was always as "straight as a string".  I think she may have given me a "perm".  My Grandmother never curled my hair and would braid it all the time.  (I hated those braids too--they never stayed in place.) 

I had good memories from staying with my dad and stepmother except for one time when I was scolded for trying to poke at Kathy's eyes.  (Remember--I thought she was a doll and I wanted her to open her eyes because when I poked at my dolls' eyes, they would pop open!)  I was happy--I had a pretty mother who doted on me and we were a family.  I also became part of my stepmother's family which gave me yet another set of grandparents.  How lucky can a little girl be?  Two, three, four sets of grandparents!  When I met Aunt Sue, my stepmother's sister-in-law, I assumed she was another grandmother because she wore very thick glasses and was almost blind.  I've been told that I said, "Who's that, another grandmother?"  My stepmother always thought it was cute and funny that I said that!  I don't know what Aunt Sue thought at the time.

Think about the times as a young parent when you dropped off your sweet little toddler at the daycare or preschool for the first time, or left him with a babysitter.  I really don't know who feels worse--the mom or the child (probably the mom).  Your child is sometimes unwilling and apprehensive about your leaving them, tears begin to flow (probably yours), along with a good deal of screaming and tantrums (again, probably yours).  However, if the babysitter or teacher is knowledgeable in early childhood education, and they usually are, they will probably distract your child with an object such as a toy, crayons with pretty animal pictures to color, a storybook--or in my case, a little red rocking chair.   

You see, I did not want to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house--I probably had not seen them in awhile, and maybe I had forgotten who they were.  I was young and children forget.  I remember spending two weeks in the hospital when my son was only three and he didn't know me when I came home. 

My father brought me back to my grandparent's house after my visit with him, and it was probably obvious that I was hestitant to stay, so my clever Grandmother leaves the room and comes back with the little red rocking chair which was just my size.  I ran over to sit in it and I imagine that I decided it was all right to stay for awhile.... and I stayed until I graduated from high school!