Sunday, June 20, 2010

When Words are Not Enough!



My Mum absolutely adores children, and we all had a lovely childhood.

I have one brother and one sister.

Les is 5 years older than me, and Mandy is 5 years younger.

I've not written a humorous post today, but I hope you'll enjoy it, nevertheless.


One of the best things about having a 5 year age gap is, that as pre-schoolers, we all had the benefit of Mumsie's undivided attention all through the day.

When Mandy went to school, Mumsie didn't know what to do with herself! She decided to become a childminder.

In those days, this wasn't regulated the way it is today, and minders were called "Aunties".

Even today, we can be walking round town, and there will be a cry of,

"Cooeee, Aunty Aud!" and one of her charges will run up and give her a hug.

She always found great ways to keep us amused, and never complained if we made a mess.

Mum would make great games to play - she would put up the ironing board on a low height, rifle the pantry for tins of food and play shops. Sometimes she'd throw a blanket over the clothes horse and we played tents!


The garden these days is well tended, with neat lawns and fences. It was a different thing in our childhood; there would chalked out hopscotch and the grass threadbare from all the playing!





We would play skipping - with a "borrowed" bit of clothesline, tied to the fence at one end, Mumsie at the other end, turning the rope for us.

She would always find activities to do. She taught me to sew and knit, and once she made a cardboard 'loom' and taught me to weave.

One of my earliest memories from when I was about 3 years old, is finding some red dead nettles near Daddio's shed. (See pic) I thought they were absolutely beautiful, and picked a handful for Mum.

As all good mummies know, on such occasions, we beam a grateful smile to our offspring, and put such 'treasures' in water in an eggcup.

I would pick some everyday all Summer long each year, right up 'til I started school aged five. Every time, Mum would gush with thanks, and put them in the windowsill.


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Fast forward through time..................

I got divorced in my late thirties, I really loved my job, but I didn't earn much money. I wanted to buy a house, but I could only get a tiny mortgage. I saw just the right house, quite near Mum and Dad, and close to my sons' school.

It had been repossessed, and needed loads of work, but I put in an offer and was delighted when it was accepted!

That was the good news, the bad news was that it had been rented out to really bad tenants. They'd had three dogs, and the place smelt awful and was filthy!

To give you an idea on the state of the place - it took a whole afternoon for my Aunty Bert (her name's Bertha!), me and Mumsie to clean the kitchen floor. (Did I mention it was filthy!)

Mum and Dad weren't in much of a position to help me financially, but they gave loads of practical help.

All of my family gave tremendous support, but especially Mum.
(Dad, like most men of his generation, happy to put up a few shelves - but doesn't do 'emotion' :O)

A few days after I finally moved in, I wanted to get Mum something special, but couldn't find the right present. Nothing could say what I truly felt.

I was going to my parents for the weekly Saturday Lunch. As I went to get into my car, I spotted some red nettles growing under the hedge. I knew I'd found my present!

I picked a handful, and carefully laid them on the passenger seat.

When I arrived, with my face beaming, I held them out to Mum. She smiled all over her face, and hugged me. As she was putting them in an eggcup, Daddio came into the kitchen, and asked,

"What have you got there, Manageress?" (His pet name for Mum!)

" Never you mind!" she said to him. "I've just got THE best present, but you wouldn't understand."

Then she wiped the corner of her eye on her pinny, and put the 'flowers' in the windowsill.

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I'm working on a post for you all about Family Planning, it's one of my hints and tips posts that you like so much, with loads of pics. Don't forget to pop back will you?

13 comments:

sandiart said...

Oh goodness me, if you don't have me crying with laughter, you have me crying over ruddy red dead nettles, what a wonderful family you have. I look forward to more of your wonderful tales.
Sandi x

magpie chic said...

What a fab family. I think you are just the Waltons without John Boy and Jim Bob and Erin.... I bet they were never allowed red nettles. I miss the Waltons actually. I liked Ike Godsey the best. I bet you have an Uncle like Ike LOL!
Jacqui

KC'sCourt! said...

Ooooooh that bought a tears of emotion to my eyes. That was really lovely.
Julie xxxxxxxx

Jacquie said...

Awwwww,I'm wiping a tear from the corner of my eye too after reading such a heartfelt post about your lovely Mum.
Jacquie x

BadPenny said...

What an idyllic childood you had

Taz said...

Aaaawwww that story just proves that it's the little things that mean the most to us Mums eh? (((hugs)))

Tilly Rose said...

Lovely x x x

Pink Feather Paradise said...

Oh wow... so many similarities to my mum and dad... except I wasn't really allowed to play in the house in that kind of way...lots of ornaments and antiques.. plus Granny and grandad moved in when I was 5 and I was always told not to disturb dad... "he's busy!" I remember a bare patch under the swing on the corner of the lawn... I remember playing in a sand pit under the big beach tree... and tents on the lawn... I remember being the only indian and my 3 older brothers being the cowboys... I think I was the only one that went to pre-school so I don't remember playing games with mum though... I envy your closeness and love with you mum...you are a very lucky lady and what a fabulous post, such a splendid close family you have...

family planning huh! I use to work on the chemist counter in Boots and I was trained on answering questions about an electronic unit that woman used for family planning...(the name of it eludes me) you pee'd on a stick and placed it in the machine and if it was a red light that meant no nookie.. Red is bad... if it was a green light is was go,go,go!
However I fell pregnant... I knew it was a red day but Mr P had just gotten back from working in the Falklands and I was way to excited to think about colours and lights! lol
however how could I sell these things when I couldn't even follow the rules...?

so I told everyone I was colour blind! ;D

big hugs Alex
x

VintageWantsNotNeeds said...

Picked some red nettles today and thought of you and your mum, great story which brought a lump to my throat.
Debbie

Sandies' Patch said...

Lovely post Sue!
Looking forward to wearing my OS Tena pad in readiness for your next post LOL!

Sandie xx

menopausalmusing said...

Lovely. You write so well......

The Vintage Kitten said...

That was a lovely post! X

Unknown said...

I love that story!!! You have a wonderful family!xxxx