Jessie took that picture when her sweet boys allowed me to read them a book. In fact, August brought me the book and asked if I'd read it. It's an old favorite called "The Hutchinson Book of Pig Tales" and it is indeed filled with different stories and poems about pigs. Some are quite funny, some are a little heartbreaking, some are just silly. The one we were reading was a funny one for sure and I love it myself. It is especially pleasing to young boys as it mentions burping, farting, and peeing. So you know it's hysterical. If you have a young person in your life who loves stories, this is a good book to own.
We were lucky enough to have the Weatherfords out for a visit today. Vergil has spent the entire weekend helping Mr. Moon with the lighting in the GarageMahal. They have replaced the florescent lights with LED lights but with the same fixtures. This process has been explained to me but I don't understand one damn bit of it. And thankfully, I do not need to.
I am so grateful to Vergil. He takes care of us in so many ways and is so gracious in his doing of it.
So when Vergil came out today to get back to the project he started yesterday, Jessie brought those wild boys to come and hang out with the old Mer.
You know I was happy.
We had lunch which was mostly leftovers and I now have an almost leftover-free refrigerator. Some of those leftovers included chili, shrimp from yesterday's lunch, half a breakfast burrito that came from this morning's post duck hunt breakfast that Mr. Moon had with Owen, and cut-up vegetables with ranch dressing. The boys had what they always want. The cheese toast with tomatoes for August, and the peanut butter, honey, and raisin sandwich for Levon.
And after the lunch and the story, they got to watch TV and I am sort of wondering if their mother doesn't bribe them to ask me to read to them by promising that they can watch TV if they do.
Whatever. I love it so much I don't care.
An interesting thing that happened was that somehow the subject of home birth came up when I was talking to the lads and I proceeded to tell them about how and why women began to want home birth, attended by midwives instead of hospital births with mostly male doctors. And also, how male doctors stole the midwives' power and good name by slandering them as ignorant, dirty, and witches. I even talked about the reasons women started deciding that going to a hospital to have their babies wasn't what they wanted to do because of all the things which happened in hospitals that were not only unnecessary but cruel. Things like tying women down (yes, that was fairly standard) because they were being so heavily medicated that they were not in control of themselves. Things like babies having to be separated from their mothers for a long time after birth for the same reason. They were too drugged to safely take care of their own babies so into the nursery they went!
And so much more.
But here's the thing- Levon who was draped over the arm of Mr. Moon's chair while I was on the couch telling them these things, was completely engaged. He was not faking it. He asked appropriate questions. He understood the points I was making. He kept his eyes on me.
It was pretty awesome.
August may or may not have been as interested but he stayed in the room, he listened.
So it was a very good visit and the boys got the TV they wanted and the men got the lights they wanted and Jessie and I got the conversations we wanted. All was good.
Bye-bye treats consisted of dates, prunes, and seven M&M's apiece. I imagine I will be handing out bye-bye treats when they are in high school, should I be so lucky as to still be around.
It's been raining most of the day. Again, mostly a drizzle but steady as can be. The kind of day where working on a jigsaw puzzle is a completely appropriate activity to engage in.
Also a little cuddling.
God! I have to go make supper! What am I thinking?
I wish I could give all of you a bye-bye treat as you have been so kind to stop by.
Love...Ms. Moon
My sister's grandmother in law used to send children home with an orange. Even when they were grown up and bringing their own children to visit her!
ReplyDeleteYou're still enjoying Mermer time, I see. Can you hear me better??
Honestly, I am not sure I am hearing any better at all but I expect that when we go back in a week and a half for adjustments, that will change. I am in the getting-used-to-this-phase, I suppose.
DeleteI believe that August also took an orange home with him which is funny, because the orange came from his yard to begin with! An orange is an excellent bye-bye treat.
Your tales of hospital births are horrendous, surely these were from days-of-yore and not modern day/last century? I had all of mine in a hospital and never was drugged into insensibility. I am surprised at the boys interest and how they take it all in, they are very keen on learning everything.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had my first child (in the hospital) the doctor threatened to tie my hands and arms down if I didn't keep them off of my baby. That really happened.
DeleteAs to the drugs that caused women to lose control (and their memory), those were used in labor up until the sixties and possibly beyond.
Childbirth was treated as a mortal illness which only the doctor could safely help the mother and baby survive.
One of the things Levon asked me was, "Are there midhusbands?" I thought that was great.
That's terrifying! Things were/are so different here, even back then mother and baby bonding was a big thing, and drugs were minimal, given only if needed.
DeleteSounds like a good day with your boys. I was charmed by these descriptions -- "the GarageMahal" and "Bye-bye treats consist[ing] of dates, prunes, and seven M&M's apiece."
ReplyDeleteYes! It was a good time with them and seven M&M's seems to be the magic number.
DeleteYou look so cute in your coveralls reading to your grands! I wonder if any of the stories included some pig grunts! Yes home births are great, but the boys might want to know there are lots of good hospital experiences with comfortable family friendly birthing rooms. So they can help their partners someday make choices that are best for them.
ReplyDeleteSince Jessie works in the hospital as a nurse in the mother-baby unit, the boys are quite aware that hospitals are a place where most women have babies. I tell you what though- talk long enough to nurses involved in childbirth and postpartum in the hospital and you will hear things that will lessen your trust in what goes on there, even in the comfortable family friendly birthing rooms although I will say that just the fact those rooms exist is a very good thing.
DeleteLevon and August are at the perfect age to enjoy their time with you. Stories/books that make young boys laugh are always a big hit and much loved. Watching them laugh is often as great as the story itself.
ReplyDeleteI thought Maggie was your youngest grandchild, but now I'm not sure.
No, Levon is the youngest. Maggie is next to youngest.
DeleteI love the innocence that August and Levon still have, even if they are extremely aware of the world we live in and what goes on. They are definitely still little boys.
I am reading a book at the moment called " The Frozen River". The river in question being the Kennebec in Maine. Set in the 1700s and about a woman ( a real person of the time) who was a midwife. Part of the story refers to a young male doctor who arrived and tried to take over from her.......killing several babies and nearly a mother , in the process!! He was arrogant and ignorant!
ReplyDeleteLove the new header .
I read that book! And I am certain that many midwives were treated just as that midwife was by doctors who didn't really have the foggiest notion of how childbirth worked.
DeleteIt was inspired by A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, based on Martha Ballard’s diary, a fascinating book.
DeleteThe plan was for my first child to be born in 1974 at what was then Women’s Lying-In Hospital in Boston, a place where fathers were considered “ambulatory patients” and were welcome around the clock while all other visitors had to be approved by the women and couldn’t just show up. Babies roomed with their mothers and breast feeding support was a given. Instead, my daughter was born in a suburb of Houston and the culture shock was immense. My doctor was young and from the northeast too, so his part was fine (I had to have a c-section, and we knew this was a real possibility/probability going in, but he let me go into labor to see where that led), but after the birth it was all downhill. Absolutely no rooming in. Fathers only allowed in at regular hours. The nurses HATED breastfeeding as it disrupted their schedule (the first time my daughter was brought to me, the nurse barked, “Five minutes on each side,” and left - Meaghan and I figured it out. My husband was forbidden from holding his child. Two different worlds. Margaret
That photo is priceless. A classic. It makes me happy just looking at it. Those boys are so lucky to have you as a grandmother! And you’re so lucky to have them. You don’t just feed and entertain, you share and enlighten. Those faces do not look like those of two boys who have been bribed to have you read to them.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? I have discovered that telling stories about my life and about real life to my grandchildren is almost an obsession with me. I feel compelled to do it. I think this is probably the most natural thing in the world. Grandparents have, historically, been an important part of children's education as to how things work and how things were. I can imagine a cave woman telling her grandchildren how to tell the difference between edible plants and poison ones, which ones are good for medicine, and for what. Of course my stories don't offer that level of information but they do give the kids perspective about how things have changed for the better and for the worse. Plus, sometimes I just like to make them laugh with the absurdities of what my own childhood was sometimes like. And I love having discussions with all of them. Getting their point of view is fascinating. I am so lucky to be able to do this.
DeleteI was lucky to have my 5 in hospitals that were just fine. I always felt taken care of and didn't have any worries or complications. I had natural births and didn't have medications during labor. I have remembered that once the baby was born and I saw their sweet face, I instantly forgot the worst of the pain and was so happy and filled with love.
ReplyDeleteIt's so great to get the grandkids laughing with me!
I am so very glad you had such good experiences with your hospital births. It is possible, of course!
DeleteI know women always say that once the baby is here they forget the pain but it was never like that for me. I rejoiced that the pain was over but my first thoughts on getting pregnant subsequently were, "Oh god. I have to go through that again."
But there is no way to describe the love that the baby brings with her. Or him. That part is just the truth.
Giving birth in hospitals now is so different than when I had my two. I insisted on no drugs and they were tch tching me. One nurse told me to be quiet so I wouldn't upset the other mothers in other rooms in which they only grudgingly let one person in so at least Marc was with me. When Sarah had hers it was a big room and as many people as she wanted could be in there during labor until they took her off to delivery.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad Mikey moved back. He takes care of things here that I can't do and Marc has no breath to do. And since he has rented the shop he has had the electricity upgraded, put in new and better lights, and had the roll up bay door fixed that was broken.
Yes, my doctor with Hank was considered cutting edge because he allowed fathers in the delivery room. And I got there so late in my labor I didn't have time for drugs. I was literally squatting on the floor before the nurse convinced me to get up on the bed.
DeleteHaving help from the younger generations is just such a very fine thing, isn't it?
Given a choice of a bye-bye treat, I'd opt for a prune! I love prunes!
ReplyDeleteIt's great that the boys are learning about giving birth and the various options and the thinking behind them. Too many boys are totally oblivious to what women go through.
Since Mama works in the mother-baby unit at the hospital, they know plenty about birth and babies too. They have been honestly told all along how things work when questions arise. It is very cool.
DeleteAnd too many MEN are totally oblivious to what women go through.
Good on you for giving the boys some history on homebirths!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the heads-up on that book. I'll have to look for it. My son Emil loves pigs; pigs and small babies. Nothing else, except food. And me. And a few people. And music, and books. But other animals, bigger children? Can't be bothered. -Kate
I remember the story about the husband and wife who, just as she began to push slapped a pair of handcuffs on their arms. There was no time to get someone to cut them off. The father was there to welcome his son into this world. I loved that story. Hospital births have changed. What hasn't changed, in a great many cases, is doctors. They get irritated at being disagreed with. I have seen this happen over and over now that we are "elderly". Try telling a doctor that you do not intend to take a pill they are trying to prescribe.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a wonderful cozy day, and you never know what door was opened in Levon's mind, and possibly also in his life, with that conversation about home births and midwives and the horrific practices of male doctors in hospital births, and not just of yesteryear. I love that photo of you reading to the boys. Those purple overalls are everything.
ReplyDelete