We live in Southern Indiana and this is a sight we see on a daily basis....hay. Seeing this brings back a strange memory of a dozen or more teens on a church bus going to some sort of youth activity. My husband of less than a year was driving the bus while others of us sat around talking quietly (which, thinking back on that now, was unusual in and of itself).All of the sudden a booming voice yells from the back of the bus. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I jumped and grabbed my chest, other girls screamed. My husband held tight to the steering wheel so as not to run us off the road.
We turned back to find two boys laughing and pointing out the window. "Look," said one of them, "it's hay!"
David and I have come a long way since that first youth ministry in the late '80's but that is one tradition we have resurrected with our children. Now it is not a 66 passenger bus we drive filled with teens it's a 15 passenger van filled with Hopkins'. Each child and/or adult waits with baited breath to see if he/she can "get" the other family members on a "hay".
There are a few rules....this can only happen once per trip, there has to be an actual hay bale in sight and certain spots (that have been way over used) are off limits. But this has been our game now for a least the last four years. And my kids play it well...........so do I;)
Year before last, we went on a field trip with our home school group to an apple orchard. Having a 15 passenger van, and only 8 children, I offered some other families a ride. So, we all piled in the van, strapped in the little ones then began driving and visiting.
I had been having problems relating with one of my children in particular and as I was driving I saw my opportunity to "bond" with her right then and there. I was speaking with the mom in the front seat but politely turned to her and said, "Excuse me," then I turned to my right pointed out the window and yelled, "HHEEEYYYY!!!"
My kids laughed and told me how well I had played the game. For a second there I didn't even think about the other families in the van.........that is till I glanced beside me to see how white the mom in the front had become. She took her hand off her chest and pointed her finger at me and said, "Don't do that again!!"
I guess the point is that attachment and bonding are individual things. It doesn't have to be something mushy and sappy, sometimes it can be just plain fun. This is an experience we share with our children and no one else. My kids will never again look at a hay bale with out thinking of us. And I wouldn't be surprised if one day I am sitting in a car with a grandchild of mine hearing him/her yelling "Hey" trying to "get" Grammy.
HHHEEEYYYYY!!!! How does your family bond?!
We played "white horse" when I was little. Living in KY we did not go anywhere that you did not see horses. My "sugar daddy" (he was not my grandpa but played the role) would pinch us when he say a white horse. So thus began our game with Clyde and that family who we spent every Sunday with. When Mark and I got married, we had a picture of a white horse in our home so we were allowed to pinch one another. (small picture with the horse in it anyway.)
ReplyDeleteClay was aggrevating Lydia and she told him "stop it you silly boy." Leaned toward him, took a big whiff and said, "YOu smell like...pancakes!" So-you smell like pancakes is a little liner we use at our house.