Thursday, December 30, 2010

A Half Dozen?

The other day, as I sat curled up cat-like on The Big Chair sipping my tea, I thought, "Yes, another would be nice . . . ." I was reading Cheaper by the Dozen, the entertaining account of the Gilbreth family who raised twelve children during the first decades of the twentieth century. I pictured them at their music lessons, the older ones tending the younger ones . . . . I pictured them at their studies, chanting along with the German and French records while bathing or dressing -- impressive multi-taskers (their father was an efficiency expert) -- and it seemed a very charming picture indeed.

We had also recently watched The Sound of Music. A family of singers! In matching costumes, no less . . . . The harmonies we could produce! And I'm sure Jamie would enjoy being called Captain . . . . I could get him a whistle.

So there I sat, the warm glow of the tree lights dancing across the pages of my book, the fragrant tea cupped in my hands, my arms eager to cradle a little one. Maybe just a half dozen . . . .

Enter Little Miss Avery Kate. "Mama! Watch this!" her wee voice bellowed (oh yes, it's quite possible for a very small set of vocal chords to produce an unearthly sound). She proceeded to soar through the air from her perch atop the arm of the couch and land in a pile of cushions. I calmly began the explanation that she knew was coming.

"Darling, we don't jump on the couch -- "



Enter Bethie at the piano. Very eager to work on her newly acquired piece, Carol of the Bells. (Perhaps you've seen It's a Wonderful Life. You know the scene where George comes home and his house is fairly erupting? Tommy needs help spelling frankincense, Zuzu's petals need pasting, and Janie is pounding away at the keys. Well, this scene frequently comes to mind when certain people in this family approach the piano bench.)



So, as I said, sister started in at the piano.

"That's coming along nicely, dear -- "

SMACK. Enter Aidan. "Mama! This is so awesome!" And his new remote-controlled helicopter veered first into the tree, then into his little sister's hair, the rotors winding tightly around her lengthy tresses.



Of course, the scene would be incomplete without me mentioning that Drew was (as usual) in the background, shouting out basketball plays like a seasoned announcer. It might have been an actual game. I'm not sure. But whatever it was, the play-by-play was very . . . intense.



After extricating Miss Kate's hair from the rotors, I returned to my tea and tried to focus on the last chapter of my book. So maybe the Gilbreths could raise a dozen. And perhaps seven was just right for the Von Trapp family. But as I attempted to tune out the fierce play-by-play, the shrieking ballerina, the caroling of bells, and the wiz of the chopper, my quiver -- strangely enough -- felt nice and full. Maybe we'll just stick with our plan to get a dog.
Pin It

5 comments:

  1. I like your story mom!

    ReplyDelete
  2. At our church, there are several families with many children, one family even has 13! :) They all manage just fine, but I know that I for one want no more than 5 kids at most (at least that's my plan for now ;D ), especially after caring for other people's children as my full-time job these past 4 years. I know what it's like to yearn for a new baby, even though I don't yet have any of my own, they are always so sweet, soft and lovable, and I can only imagine that your own are 100X that!

    I liked your post too, and I just wanted to say that I understand how you feel. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whew! I thought this was your way of telling us something...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well.... I dunno. The stuff is sort of true, but I guess you gotta exaggerate for writing purposes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. The stuff is ALL true, my son. Sometimes I do "exaggerate for writing purposes," but this afternoon account was so vibrant on its own that I was able to write it just as it was ;).

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...