I spoke with a lot of parents over the past week from all over and they all said the same thing, the first five years are killer. No sleep and no independence. Didn’t I read somewhere that humans are born too early, like maybe five years too early, because they are incapable of fending for themselves and require a parent (or two).
Maybe that is why when I was sitting on a flight home from Denver I thought about my mother and how beautiful she was and how trapped like a rat she was. She inherited four boys at 20 years of age. At 21 had her first daughter and then me at 22.
It’s no wonder the things I looked back on with horror were actually her survival tactics. In those days, in New Orleans, the large hot water heaters were usually located in the kitchen or a bathroom or by the back door. Ours was in our kitchen along with a long picnic table.
She drew eyes and a big red mouth on it and put an apron around the middle. We called her Annie. And Annie used to watch us when Mom ran out to the store or where ever it was she went during the middle of the day. The boys were in school, but my sister and I were too young, so we stayed inside with Annie and mom went out seeking moments.