After contemplating my kindergarten picture and being reminded by my dad of how as a child I repeatedly told my parents that I had only had five good days in my entire life, I would like to apologize to my parents for being a HORRIBLE CHILD.
It's true. My mom said I was the hardest child to raise--and my youngest brother has autism!
A quick illustration:
When I was a kid I would start screaming and nothing would calm me down. I thought my parents were against spanking; no--it just didn't work on me. They tried everything. Finally my mom realized the only thing that would work was throwing me in a cold shower with my clothes on. Apparently once while I was acting up during church, my mom took me down to the bathroom and showed me how they had a shower there, too. I kept quiet the rest of church.
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for loving me even when I am bad.
HA HA!!! But now you're so good, so it's okay! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was all good Rachel...Except maybe the Cabbage Patch clothes for the two bags of flour in middle school.
ReplyDeleteI have to be careful what I post since my dad reads your blog, and I am sure he has more than enough ammunition on what I was like as a kid.
Love Always Dad
I love picturing your mom throwing that little ornery Rachel into the shower. And remarkably, it is something that we have yet to be driven to by our kids, so it gives me hope for them. You are the best person ever.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't like throwing Rachel into shower was any every day occurrence. I think it only happened a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteRemarkably, we still use the same technique on John. Russell figured out that a glass of water in John's face was enough to distract him when he (John, not Russell) was hurting himself. A few times we even had to throw him into the swimming pool. This was reserved for the warmer time of the year though.
That's good to hear on a day that my son is acting like a lunatic since you turned out so well. I do have a memory of riding in the car with you and you were screaming and wouldn't stop. Now that memory makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteThose traits that we admire in adults are often difficult to handle in a young child.
ReplyDeleteYou were 98% great even then. (You were only harder to parent than John for a couple of months and I only admit to one cold shower in exchange for hair pulling from your car seat while I was trying to drive.)In a minivan, the seats would have been farther apart, but I had a Datsun wagon. My favorite story is getting out of my Datsun (Nissan) station wagon and seeing a body sprawled out in the back. Then, I realized you had hidden yourself in my car before I had left home and quietly held still while I was driving. Now days, that would be a ticketable offense for not having a 5-year-old in a car seat!
That sounds exactly like my nephew. Nothing worked on him either, until they finally figured out his "currency" or the thing that matters to him. Whenever he gets home from errands, the first thing he does is strip to his underwear, put on his cape and draw an S on his chest. Now, all they have to do is take away his cape, and he responds beautifully. Of course, he's getting older now, so that might not work as well anymore ...
ReplyDeleteIf I had the choice between horrible child and horrible adult, I'd choose horrible child hands down. Seems like your mom still likes you, so it's all good.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the choice between horrible child and horrible adult, I'd choose horrible child hands down. Seems like your mom still likes you, so it's all good.
ReplyDeleteRachel of course was never a horrible child, but like all children, and all adults, she had her horrible moments. The great moments vastly outnumbered the horrible ones though.
ReplyDeleteShe was a great student and like now, she was a lot of fun. In middle school, if there was a play, I think Rachel was in it.
I have fond memories of Rachel growing up. She was fun, smart, and kept us on our toes.