See that gaggle of little children in the photo? It consists of me and my five siblings (I'm the extremely well-fed baby in the middle). Having six children in eight years either puts my mother in line for sainthood or the loony bin, and I'm sure during the years of raising us all she had moments of leaning toward both.
The order of our family goes boy-girl-boy-girl-boy-girl... the doctors told my mom after my brother Steve was born that she should think about maybe not having anymore children. But as she tells it, she informed them that she needed one more little girl to finish off the pattern. As grateful as I am, that might have been a loony bin moment. :)
Standing in the "train" pose ... we have lots of these kind of photos.
You can imagine why, looking at the photo above, we were able to relate to the Brady Bunch at a deep level. Although it didn't happen until later in life, I even completed the story by being the youngest one in curls. (I never, for the record, had a lisp like Cindy. The curls were our only similarity.)
The other television show that was a staple for us kids growing up was Lawrence Welk. We'd all gather around the television on Friday nights to watch the bubbles surround Lawrence as he declared all things to be, "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful." When my brother Steve started playing the clarinet, my parents' motivation for him was to tell him that if he practiced enough maybe he, too, could have a clarinet with gold buttons like the dude in the Lawrence Welk orchestra.
Apparently that wasn't quite enough incentive to practice, as his clarinet dreams didn't last very long.
My favorite part? When Lawrence would announce that a-Bobby and a-Sissy were about to perform. Oh, those two "modern dancers" were exactly who I wanted to be someday. Spiffy, those two were.
So, that was our Brady Bunch moment. Every Friday night we would match up with our closest sibling and dance to Lawrence Welk. Jerry/Laura, Jim/Janette, Steve/Me ... dancing our little hearts out.
Yeah, that's right. You heard me. We freaking danced to Lawrence Welk. Every Friday night. And no one made us... WE LIKED IT. And we're all really pretty good dancers now. But the point is, we lived a life that made the Brady Bunch look scandalous.
Ahh... the good old days. :)
Doesn't that give you some kind of warm security looking back? How sweet to dance to Lawrence Welk...I love it.
ReplyDeleteYour mom, well she is a saint. That's a lota' little ones in a short time.
You were so adorable in those pictures. I'd like to see a few more "train" pics :)
What great memories. Love that last little bit about making the Brady Bunch look scandalous! From the red shag carpet to the shag hair cuts, you were one happening family... and the dancing to Lawrence Welk is just pure magic.
ReplyDeleteBe well Gitz-Cindy : )
Just finished watching the Brady Bunch with the boys where Carol lost her singing voice at Christmas : )
There is absolutley NOTHING wrong with dancing to Lawrence Welk. He lived near us when I was growing up. There was a dance "hall" where you could go for dinner, music and dancing.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE IT!!!
ReplyDeleteLawrence Welk was always a favorite for me. I loved the singing and the dancing.
Five siblings...you never want for company, huh? I have two and they want to come over all. the. time.
Love you, Gitz!
ME TOO....I totally LOVED Lawrence Welk!!! I grew up with 4 older sisters and we thought it was a great part of the week to be able to watch LW, eat popcorn, and drink a whole can of Cherry pop!!! I still find myself flipping through the channels and finding an old episode and dancing around the room!!! Shh-don't tell:)
ReplyDeleteLeslie
@robin: for the first three kids, when she went in for her check ups after having them she was pregnant again. I would have gone screaming into the night :)
ReplyDelete@vicky: the red shag was my grandparents' house; we had orange/green/red mixed shag. It was lovely.
@neas: that would have been our dream!
@michelle: actually none of them lives here in town so I don't see them that often. That's why we have Skype!
@leslie: holy cow, we have some major parallels in our lives! You have to come over with Susie sometime and see if we can get her to watch a little Lawrence with us :)
Well, I thought I didn't know Lawrence because he was before my time. Since we're the same age, though, I guess I was wrong about that.
ReplyDeleteYou're mom must really be some kind of woman! I love that she had to finish out her pattern. :) So glad she had an OCD moment.
i forgot about the bubbles til just now. i love, love, love the way you write!!!
ReplyDeleteis there a way to prove you didnt have a lisp? huh?
you know. my bladder got weaker with each baby. i couldnt imagine having more than two kids. id have to be rigged up to a toilet on wheels. yah. a commode chair. not good.
Wow...your mom was a brave woman for having that many kids so close together...whew. It must have been a lot of fun growing up in your house. I have one brother who is 5 years older, so there wasn't much playing going on. It usually consisted of me being picked on by him and his friends.
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ReplyDeleteOk, I keep screwing up with these comments...last try :/
ReplyDeleteCute pictures. I LOVE pics from way back.
Hey Sara, I really hope you win the Rebel For a Cause camera... :-) That would be awesome and then we can both be giddy about our camera's ;-)
Love the pics from way back. I remember my little brother having the Winnie the Pooh jammies! Yes, Rock Star Brother was a Winnie the Pooh freak. We watched Lawrence Welk, too! And Hee Haw. Every week. Thanks for bringing back so many memories!
ReplyDeleteSara, I grew up watching Lawrence Welk because my Dad (a Nebraskan)loved his show. And it was hard not to get hooked. I loved the Lennon Sisters--especially the youngest one--can't remember her name right now, but we were fairly close in age, I think.
ReplyDeleteLove the pics. Your mother is a brave woman, indeed. :)
this is such fun!! My kids look great in the trains stance, too. only i have three boys, then a girl, and then another boy. such fun!! thanks for sharing... Technically I also had 6 in 8 years, only i miscarried one. so this is what they would have looked like... WOW
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