“Little Grandma and Boundary Testing”
Ann was born at 210 Sherman Street in Waco, Texas. Depression era parents couldn’t afford to send expectant mothers to the hospitals to deliver their babies. When the family lived in East Waco, they lived only a few houses away from several other family members. One of the persons who stands out in her memory was “Little Grandma” Richardson. She remembers playing in the house and yard of her great grandmother, who was known as “Little Grandma.” Little Grandma had a talking parrot, whom she trained to cuss. She was called “Little Grandma” because of her short stature, but she made up for her diminutive size with a loud voice and fiery personality. As Ann remembers that time, she says “Little Grandma” hated kids. She dipped snuff, and Ann says you didn’t get too close or she would spit it on you.
From her earliest childhood, Ann has been a person who tests boundaries. But she grew up under the tutelage of a mother who was not afraid to apply the board of education to the seat of learning. Her mother would establish boundaries, but Ann was one of those strong willed children, who had never accepted standards just because the adults said so. Forbidden fruit looked attractive to her.
One day her Mom and Grandma Richardson were working on a quilt, and Ann was playing underneath the quilting frame. Ann got bored with that, and decided to go play with the neighbor children. She had been forbidden to play with these kids because they used bad language, but Ann wanted to find out for herself. After a few minutes, her mother realized she was no longer underneath the quilting frame and found Ann playing with the forbidden kids. When she saw her mother she took off running. An even worse no, no was crossing the street. The church building was six blocks away. Ann crossed the street and was well on the way to the church house (perhaps she thought she would be safe there) when her mother caught up with her. Ann got the business end of the belt all the way home.
After they moved to Tater Hill, the family acquired a round dining table. When Ann would get in trouble, she would hear the words, “Sarah Ann Williams.” She knew it was bad if she heard all three names. Somehow, she thought she could get away if she could run around the table. Of course her mother always caught her, and the degree of discipline was a little harsher than it would have been had she been a compliant child. Ann said she literally hated the table. She thought the table was the source of all her problems. Strangely enough we have a similar table today, and it’s one of her most prized possessions.
We live in a different kind of world today. Ann’s parents never heard of “time out.” They were more of the “spare the rod and spoil the child” philosophy. They were not mean people. They were not harsh people. Their children never doubted the love of their parents. Even though they believed corporal punishment to be a legitimate tool to be used in the process of “training up a child in the way he should go,” they would have been horrified by any display of child abuse and cruelty. They knew when enough was enough, and they didn’t cross that line.
Ann has never trained a parrot to use profanity, and she’s not loud (although she can be fiery at times), but there’s just a bit of “Little Grandma’s” spirit in her. She’s makes up her own mind about things, and she’s not terribly concerned about whether others agree with her or not.
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