In The Light

I was a strict mother. Not overbearingly so. I just expected my children to mind me.

My children fought each other and were loud and at times they were mischievous. That is normal and does not bother me.

What often bothered me was hearing a mother tell her child to "wait until your father gets home!" I feel like that puts the mother on the same level as the children. She will not discipline but she will tattle.

Mom should take care of business when needed. Dad does not have to always have to be the bad guy.

I also feel that children require structure in their lives. It can be really scary if you do not know where boundaries are. Then you have to keep searching for them in order to feel secure.

Another rule of mine is that I do not repeat myself. If I say to clean your room do it. If I say do not spit on the floor save your saliva until you can dispose of it hygienically.

My children did not run the streets. I always knew where they were and who they were with. I liked having loud boisterous children playing in my yard.

When the streetlights came on in the evening it was time to be in the house for the night. There is nothing to do outside at night in the city but get into trouble.

Long after my children were grown my sons were in front of the house working on a car. My daughter-in-law and I were sitting on the front steps watching and talking.

Suddenly the boys gathered their tools and walked past us and into the house. We just looked. It was very confusing.

Then I realized... the streetlights were on. I laughed but was pleased. Some habits never go away.

Run!

 Most people know how much I love baseball. I have since I was a child.

My grandparents did not yet have electricity. Grandpa and my uncles would listen to games on the radio. 

I do not know where the power to operate the radio came from. I only remember a wire being fastened to the wire of the screen door as an antenna. 

The only two teams available to us were the New York Yankees and the St Louis Cardinals. For some reason I have always preferred the American League over the National League. So I rooted for the Yankees.

Now the games are on every day and I watch. It is better to see them rather than just listen.

When I was a child I of course played baseball. I had uncles and brothers and their friends who also played.

My problem was that I was not a fast runner. I had to learn to hit the ball far in order to be safe at first base.

I was grown and the mother of four. I joined a softball team. 

Most of the players on my team were women I worked with. One of the team was going to college to become a physical education teacher. She was an exceptional player.

I usually was the third batter because I could usually make it to first base. I still could not run.

The college student batted fourth because she was a good player. base. 

One day I was on first base. The student hit the ball... hard.

I took off running to second base. The other team still did not have the ball so I started running to third base.

Suddenly I felt someone behind me. The student was hot on my heels. 

I ran faster than I could with the student right behind me. She kept telling me to go faster.

I did not want her to run over me so I kept moving. I scored a run with the student right behind me. She had an in-the -park home run with the slowest runner on the team in front of her.