Babysitting, play practice, Mom and Dad

Mama and Grandma were worn out by the time I got home yesterday evening. Even though the little girl, Hailey, had slept for three hours in the late morning she and her brother had been very active throughout the rest of the day. Since Mama is still recovering from surgery it was a challenge for her to keep up the pace. Grandma was hurting before the day began but she hung in there through the entire day. Trying to get Mama to keep still was her biggest challenge.

The children are not bad. You can tell they have been disciplined by their parents, but they are three and four years old. It is pretty obvious that they are used to the television being on at all times even though they do not have any real interest in watching what it being broadcast. They asked several times to have a movie played only to get up and start playing with other things as soon as the movie started.

Mama is not one to have background noise so that did not fly with her. As soon as the kids were up she would turn off the TV and they would immediately ask, “Why did you turn it off?” “Because you are not watching it?” she would answer. It was clear they did not understand how that worked.

We got the chance to meet the parents just before we left for play practice. They are pretty rough, but they are respectful and they seem to love their children. They work installing the pipelines that are being built and buried in this area. He is a bull dozer operator and the wife works as a general laborer with him.  I have no idea how much money they are able to make doing what they are doing, but at least they are out there working.

I am not sure how long we will be helping with the kids but it gives Mama and Grandma something to do that allows them to earn a little bit of money. Grandma is not excited about next week when Mama and I will be gone, but I think she is willing to carry on. We will see.

You would have enjoyed Mama at play practice last night. She was coached by one of the men in our church that had some educational background in drama. He was having trouble connecting with her while trying to get her to speak up so the eventual audience would be able to hear; yes, Mama. At one point he put the other person – the daughter in the play – across the gym from Mama and had them do their lines while that far apart. It worked. I know she will do fine but she is not sure of it.

I called my Mom and Dad last night after I spent a few minutes talking to Joshua. I had not heard from Joshua in quite some time so it was nice to be able to reconnect. Talking to him reminded me that I needed to make sure Mom and Dad were going to be home next week. Mama and I are planning on being there on Thursday so we can spend some time with them.

It was a little sad to hear that they are pretty much home bound now. I asked Mom if that bothered her and of course it does, but neither of them have the energy to get out much other than a trip to the store. Dad will turn eighty eight or eighty nine this year and Mom is only five years behind him, so I suppose it was bound to happen sooner than later.

It is still a little bit sad to hear.