Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Good Night, Sue -- Chapter 6

Susie was a little mommy.  It may have been that she had little sisters (and she got another one when she was nine years old -- Sandy).  Or it just may have been the way God made her, to care for the small, the weak, or just anyone who needed loving.  Each night, before Susie went to bed, she put all her dolls and toys to bed as well.  Even if they were just on the floor, or on a chair, she couldn't bear the thought of them going through the night feeling cold.  So she would cover them all up -- and be sure to get their feet nice and covered (because it's the worst to have cold feet while you are sleeping).  If she didn't have enough blankets for them all, she'd use spare pieces of fabric or clothes.  Once everyone was all tucked in, Susie could rest easy.

She was also very creative.  Sometimes a little girl cannot fall asleep right away at night, even if she is actually tired.  Sometimes she would be the only one having trouble falling asleep, and she would play this game while she waited.  She would pretend that she was a queen, and the bed was her throne, and the whole bedcovers were her royal robes.  They spread out from her in a wide, lovely flow, just like a queen's long gown should fill her throne room.  This worked especially well when she was sleeping at her grandmother's house, in a big big bed with old fashioned bedcovers.  Those worked very nicely with a stately touch that a queen's robe needed.  She would lie very still so the dress would not get messed up, and imagine her throne room full of courtiers, and entertainers until she got sleepy enough to drift off. . .

Years later, when Sue was a mommy, she was still big on tucking her children into bed.  Gretchen and Anna would call "Mommy, will you come tuck us?" if they had been in bed very long without her coming upstairs.  And if there were any fears related with sleeping, she had creative ideas for how to overcome those keep-you-awakers.  For instance, when Gretchen was afraid of housefires, her mommy told her that their cat Peaches, who always slept on the end of their bed was their own little fire alarm, and that was all the assurance she needed.  She told all her girls the idea of pretending to be a queen, and it was a fun game for them to try as well.  Read here for more ways Emily was helped by her mommy when she had a hard time sleeping.

Linking up with Mommy's Piggy Tales (and for those of you who are interested, also finishing my YAY posts this weekend:  getting engaged and married!)

10 comments:

Stephanie said...

Who is the presh little face by your mom and Nathan? I can't figure out which one of you it is - but LOOOOVE the cheeks.
Such a fun little series Gret! I can hear your mom telling the story of the queen and her robe. :)

Karen said...

So sweet, making the dolls feel comfortable at night! And the idea of being a queen! I love getting to know Sue.

Rachel said...

LOVE your Mom's queen idea. What a great way to drift off to sleep!

Emma said...

Wow, I miss her.

Anonymous said...

Susie must have been a Queen she treated me like a King....DAD

Becky said...

We must all want to be queens. I remember walking up and down our staircase pretending I had long robes trailing after me!

Beth (Elizabeth) LaMie said...

What a wonderful story! I love the detail about putting her dolls to bed at night! I remember doing that, too.

Playing queen with the bedclothes sounds like SO much fun - it's great!

Karen said...

About the queen comments. When I was about this age and asked to dust and clean the living room, I asked my mom, "So who is coming, the Queen of England?" Guess I needed to know how much effort to put forth.

Anonymous said...

Me too Emma! This made me miss her more than ever.... I totally understand the concern over the cold feet of the dollies...I'm the same way with the cat..I feel so comfy if I know the kitten is warm and tucked in to her bed. :)

Anna

Susan said...

Your mom was a queen! And she always had idea's on how to fix problems (like not being able to sleep.) So neat that you are sharing her with the world through this blog.