You Know, I Don't Think He Would Do That...

There's this very funny chapter in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "On the Banks of Plum Creek." After the harvest, Pa has created a huge straw stack in order to feed their oxen (Bright and Pete) for the winter. Laura and Mary discover the straw stack, find it irresistible, and climb up it and slide down it until all the straw is scattered everywhere. Pa reprimands them, but they do it again. The second time he is very stern with them about not sliding down the straw stack. So the next day, instead of sliding down it, they climb up to the top and roll down repeatedly. He questions them at the end of the day if they had slid down the stack, and Laura says, "No, Pa. We didn't slide down.....But we did ROLL down." Then she said Pa turned and looked out of the window for a long time. His shoulders were shaking a little, and the girls wondered why he was standing so long with his back to them.

I always really liked the part about sliding down the straw stack when I was younger, but it wasn't until I was an adult and reread the book that I could appreciate the part about Pa. I've had a number of occasions where I've had to turn my back to the girls or sometimes even dash out of the room for a few seconds because what they've done or said is naughty but also? It's just.so.funny.

Last night before bed, the girls and I were sitting in the rocking chair, reading. Elaine can't seem to sit still for very long, so she wiggled around until finally she fell out of the chair onto the floor. She looked up at me accusingly and said, "You pushed me, Mom!" I said, "Elaine, I would never push you. You fell out of the chair." Next she looked at Lucy and said, "Lucy did it!" to which, of course, Lucy shouted, "I DID NOT!" Without skipping a beat, Elaine said, "Then Jesus pushed me."