Many don't like holidays, but I really like them. It's the kids - still kids, tho some be 23+. We have the three kidded families come over in echelon. They have the other side of the family to go to first, but then come here. So, we three and Sister.1's family came over to eat the dinner proper, then the other two families make their way over.
And dinner was good. I had absolutely nothing to do cooking wise - mark me as a hopeless deficiency and yes I feel guilt - but this day I was hopeless.
The kids get along well. Two families have basically grown up to-gether - not the same neighbourhood or grammer school, but they spent a lot of time in this house vivisting or being babysat, and they all went to the same HS to-gether. As we speak, the last generation is going through this HS - Neice.3 is a senior, and her cousin Neice.4 is a freshman. Four have preceed them, also overlapping @ times. So, they all hav hs in common. But there are divisions.
The grand division is between the first five and the last three. There was a lull in the kids coming of about 5-6 years. the first group are all close. But when the next three came, they very assuradly were "kids" or "babies" to the first five. However, soon enough, the youngest of the first five (Neice.3) started to also play w. the younger three. She had a lot of youth still in her. So, it was always knda funny looking for th younger ones and find Neice.3 w. them playing school or house or office or whatever. I think that Neice.3 really liked to play the older person part w. the wee three - she being the baby of the first five.
And now n.3 and n.4 are in HS to-gther. N.4 is a bit of a shy kid, always very young to us - we prized her and the other young2 these last few years because we missed the lost youngness of the first five. She was always rank#1 frenz w. n.5 - they being closest in age and fun play partners - lots of sleepovers, etc... But now I wonder - really wonder - as n.4 is growing up, will she leave n.5 behind as she assumes more and more of , um, growing up? N.4 is still a kid to mst of us, and n.5 is a total kid so far. But N.3 and.4, since they go to school together (drive in morning, etc), suddenly are to-gether all the time. It used to be that when I came up w. a plan to take the 2 younger kids out they would be a team. (This still lives - I want to take the kids to the latest House Threater production, and yesterday asked parents of n.5 - the hardest to coordinate - and she said 'if n.4 goes .... " - but I am also going to ask N.3 if she wants to go). But, again, the team of n.3 and n.4 are also strong - often I like to get a pizza or some fare from a resturaunt etc so that Mom has some thing different to eat - I always call these two to see if they want to come over. They do. Then again, two of the others are in Charleston Il., another in rogers Park, one in the West subarbs, and finally nephew.1 - very elusive and the first to start his own life. So, when we need the deep love of the kids in our life, we can especially call up n.3 and.4 for a quick injection of life.
There are many great things I have. The deep satisfaction of having watched these eight grow has to be the toppermost. We have our problems, but luckily even more strongly we have our kids. I will never have kids - too old and too immature - so they, and eventually their kids, is all I will have.
As a post script, the 'family H.S.' (Not St. Rita, thats MY hs) played in the State 8A football championship game in Champaign yesterday. Six of the eight kids and two parent units went to the game. I watched on tv.
And dinner was good. I had absolutely nothing to do cooking wise - mark me as a hopeless deficiency and yes I feel guilt - but this day I was hopeless.
The kids get along well. Two families have basically grown up to-gether - not the same neighbourhood or grammer school, but they spent a lot of time in this house vivisting or being babysat, and they all went to the same HS to-gether. As we speak, the last generation is going through this HS - Neice.3 is a senior, and her cousin Neice.4 is a freshman. Four have preceed them, also overlapping @ times. So, they all hav hs in common. But there are divisions.
The grand division is between the first five and the last three. There was a lull in the kids coming of about 5-6 years. the first group are all close. But when the next three came, they very assuradly were "kids" or "babies" to the first five. However, soon enough, the youngest of the first five (Neice.3) started to also play w. the younger three. She had a lot of youth still in her. So, it was always knda funny looking for th younger ones and find Neice.3 w. them playing school or house or office or whatever. I think that Neice.3 really liked to play the older person part w. the wee three - she being the baby of the first five.
And now n.3 and n.4 are in HS to-gther. N.4 is a bit of a shy kid, always very young to us - we prized her and the other young2 these last few years because we missed the lost youngness of the first five. She was always rank#1 frenz w. n.5 - they being closest in age and fun play partners - lots of sleepovers, etc... But now I wonder - really wonder - as n.4 is growing up, will she leave n.5 behind as she assumes more and more of , um, growing up? N.4 is still a kid to mst of us, and n.5 is a total kid so far. But N.3 and.4, since they go to school together (drive in morning, etc), suddenly are to-gether all the time. It used to be that when I came up w. a plan to take the 2 younger kids out they would be a team. (This still lives - I want to take the kids to the latest House Threater production, and yesterday asked parents of n.5 - the hardest to coordinate - and she said 'if n.4 goes .... " - but I am also going to ask N.3 if she wants to go). But, again, the team of n.3 and n.4 are also strong - often I like to get a pizza or some fare from a resturaunt etc so that Mom has some thing different to eat - I always call these two to see if they want to come over. They do. Then again, two of the others are in Charleston Il., another in rogers Park, one in the West subarbs, and finally nephew.1 - very elusive and the first to start his own life. So, when we need the deep love of the kids in our life, we can especially call up n.3 and.4 for a quick injection of life.
There are many great things I have. The deep satisfaction of having watched these eight grow has to be the toppermost. We have our problems, but luckily even more strongly we have our kids. I will never have kids - too old and too immature - so they, and eventually their kids, is all I will have.
As a post script, the 'family H.S.' (Not St. Rita, thats MY hs) played in the State 8A football championship game in Champaign yesterday. Six of the eight kids and two parent units went to the game. I watched on tv.
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