Stories from the Past

Since Casey tagged me on writing a story from the past, I thought I should tell a story on him and Hailey.

About 8 1/2 years ago when their parents were building their house, their mom was having to be a "gopher" almost every day. That is, she had to go to Home Depot for this and for that, and of course, she had to take Casey and Hailey along as well. I would often go with her to sit with them in the car. They would really get upset if they had to go into the store, and of course, they weren't too happy about being in the car either. But they couldn't be left alone, regardless.

So, to keep them happy, I would make up stories to tell them to keep their interest up until their mom returned to the car.

Casey was really into fire engines, firemen and all that stuff. So I would make up a story about Casey and Hailey being Jr. Firemen. I would create a scene in their imagination, then it would revolve around the two of them alerting the firemen, or people who may be hurt, or whatever a 3 and 4 yr old would or could do and how they were heroes in the eyes of the fireman and the people or things they saved.

Of course, I inserted some teaching moments into those stories as to what a child could or couldn't do and why. Sometimes, they would help me with the story or how it ended.

Another story I would tell them, and I did this when I used to watch Marissa, Gavin, and Mackenzie. I watched Morgan too, but she was too little to understand what I was saying. I would tell them about a little girl, or little boy who woke up in the morning and all the things they did, what they ate, what they said, and so on. It would sometimes take more than just a few minutes for them to realize that I was telling them about themselves, what had happened to them that very day. The kids all loved those stories. I probably fudged a little on some of the things that happened, especially if I wasn't there when they woke up, but they were amazed that I knew so much about them. And, they never seemed to be tired of my telling their story.

When Marissa was old enough to draw or write, she would sometimes say she was bored and that we hadn't done anything fun that day. So, I started having her draw or write a journal about what she had done that day and she came to realize that her life was full of good things each day.

Those were fun days. I loved watching these grandkids and being an influence in their lives. I hope they will remember the fun things we did and will carry on these traditions with their children and grandchildren.