CLIPS FROM TIMES PAST

How about an oldie but a goodie?

Motherhood had has given me a great deal of poise. Nothing can happen to me in public that something worse hasn't happened to me at home--- although I did get a little uneasy several years ago when we were in Safeway and my eldest questioned me about exactly how the sperm got to the egg.

When my eldest was an "only," I scrubbed his sneakers daily before he went to pre-school. My second and third, just nineteen months apart in age, were lucky if we could even find their sneakers.

My mother and I are at different stages in our lives. She stops at an exclusive dress shop in Salado on her way to Dallas..I stop in Abbot and buy turkey wings.

When I was a kid, my other used to drag me around from store to store and I hated it. Now my nine-year old Daughter drags me around from store to store and I still hate it. I think shopping slips a generation.

My teenager is growing up. With a patronizing smile he now passes all the cereal premiums on to his younger siblings (except the really good ones, of course.)

I think my middle child has lost a pen pal. His letter containing "Garbage Pail" cards crossed his Polish pen pal's letter containing pictures of local saints.

Sometimes I get so disheartened: 

     We bought a VCR so the kids wouldn't fight over television programs-- so now, they're fighting over       VCR tapes. 

      My husband gave me a lovely Valentine's bouquet and the cat ate it the next day.

      I overheard my teenager warning his sixth-grade brother to learn to fight so he'll be able to survive    junior high next year.

      On the other hand, my teenager seems to be turning into a safe, careful driver despite my worst worries.

       My daughter and I carried a styrofoam Saturn to school without losing a single ring, and my younger son told his class that the people he admires most are his family because, "When they try, they keep on trying."