Little House on the Prairie

My mom recently invested in all of the "My First Little House" books, a collection of picture books containing vignettes based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. She lent us a whole stack of them, not realizing she might never get them back, and Luke and I have really enjoyed reading them together. In fact, we have hardly read anything else for the past few weeks - and that is fine with me. Let's just say that these books fare better in repetition than, say, Green Eggs and Ham (no offense to Dr. Seuss aficionados, but if I have to read "not here not there not anywhere" one more time....).

One of the fun things about these books is that they give us a chance to talk about what life was like "back then." When your kid is already a smart phone genius, it's reassuring to know that he can also appreciate a covered wagon and log cabin!

I find myself also benefitting from these brief stories in unexpected ways; I'm familiar with the stories themselves from the original books, but experiencing each episode on its own, rather than as a chapter in a larger book, has a way of helping me notice more about the lifestyle and challenges and joys of Laura's childhood. And having each page fully illustrated has not only helped me better visualize these tales, but it's brought minor (but fascinating) details to life - such as the fact that Ma and Pa are so young! I don't know how old they are supposed to be, actually, but the illustrations give the impression that they are at least my age, if not younger. Boy - that sure puts in perspective my own woes and challenges... I can't even begin to imagine what it must've been like for Ma and Pa to come to the decision that they should strike out into unknown lands with young two daughters and a baby, build a house by themselves out in the middle of nowhere, live off the land and what they could provide for themselves... And they make it seem so easy!

Of course, the same is certainly true for my own parents and grandparents - but it wasn't until I found myself at this incredible place in life (motherhood) that I realized how much my own parents sacrificed and fought to make things work and to make things good for us, their beloved children!

So here's to Ma and Pa... and my own Mom and Dad, Memaw and PopPop, EO, Debbie and Lonnie, Grandmother and Granddad, GiGi and PaPa, and so many others. I hope our choices as adults and as parents reflect the good things we've learned from your examples.

And Mom, I'm just kidding about not returning those books. I will. Someday.