A Stroll Back in Time.

  My excitement about the grand-littles coming to visit is growing with leaps and bounds.  At first, I worried that they would not have enough toys to be entertained for the week they are here.  It HAS been a long time since the Little Bayou House has had wee visitors.  Now, however, I am beginning to think just the opposite.  Perhaps there will be too many toys for them.  No, I refrained and did not go out shopping!   I merely started clearing closets, window seats and cabinets.  I found a whole plethora of toys, albeit, they are all vintage.  Surely, the kiddos will not mind playing with toys that their daddy and aunt and uncle played with as tots.  Surely, they will not mind playing with toys that their MawMaw had as a child.  Surely, they will not mind playing with things that their great-grandmother used as a source of entertainment.  Surely...I hope. Anyway, as it turns out, I have enough toys to actually create a "toy room"!  Darling Daughter's old bedroom is now in the process of being turned into a temporary playroom for the kiddos!

  Several of the items that I hauled downstairs to clean were, indeed, things that my mother had as a child.  One is a doll bed that my granddaddy made for my mother when she was a wee tot.  The little bed has survived not only her childhood but mine and then my daughter's as well.  This thing has been passed down several generations and now another can enjoy it.  The bed has numerous coats of paint on it and is in need of a good cleaning but it is still as sturdy as the day Granddaddy built it.  He knew how to build things for sure!  In my mind, I have an image of him in his workshop with limited tools and wood.  He mainly used old crates for his woodworking.....and this was far before this "pallet" building craze.  Back in the day, it was the norm and not some novelty.  I will, however, have to evict the cat.  She loves snoozing in the doll bed!

  Then there is the small doll buggy(?) for the lack of a better word.  I assume this is another of Granddaddy's creations as I have never seen another like it.  He was great at designing things that were highly useful. Once again, as a toddler, mom used this..then I did..then Elizabeth..now Mary Ruth can. Mom and I both had only one complaint about this toy.  If you were not careful when pushing it, you could wind up with the wind knocked out of you!  Never run with this toy! If, per chance, you were whizzing along at high speed and hit the rug, oooof!  The pole handle would shove into your gut and knock you for a loop!  Also, the blue metal seat had edges that could be a tad painful if you fell atop them. Perhaps this one will have to be used with close guidance if the Grand Princess wishes to push her dolly around the house.  

  The safety issues with the doll buggy brings to mind the idea that we do mollycoddle our kiddos these days.  We are so afraid that they will have a bump or bruise that we try to fully "childproof" our houses.  I found myself doing just this in view of the upcoming visit. I worried about the stairs, I fretted over the cold floors and I anguished about the mucky waters of the Bayou.  In the midst of one of my near panic attacks, Son said two words that squelched my fears.  "We survived."  In that statement the "we" referred to my three kids.  Yes....they did.  No....I did not worry near as much.  And....I am much calmer now that the man of few words uttered those two.  So...have fun, kiddos!  I will keep a boo-boo bunny in the freezer and some colorful adhesive bandages in the cabinet.  The grandkids can have fun with the old toys...if their parents do not put a nix on that idea.