High Chairs and Cheerios

When I was about two and half, my parents built the first farmhouse I ever lived in. It was a grand, two-story home with an unfinished basement (that was never finished in the decade or so we lived there). I have vague memories of this place. I remember my walls were kind of purpley-blue, my parents had a deep green carpet in their bedroom, and there was a sitting room that the kids weren't really allowed in without adult supervision.

My first memory comes just as we were moving into our new home. For about a year we had been living in Calmar, just down the block from the school my dad was principal at. To ensure my parents could continue to work while my brother and I were young, they had hired a nanny. Lourdes was a wonderful woman of whom I have only fond memories. As my brother and I grew older and needed less round the clock care and supervision, Lourdes' time with us was scaled back, and eventually she moved on. My first memory is of Lourdes.

Once the farm house was finished my parents began moving furniture out to the new home. Two of the last bits of furniture to leave were my and my brother's high chairs.

A two-year old child, I remember sitting in that chair, my brother beside me in his, eating Cheerios out of a yellow, four handled plastic cup. Giggling at poor Lourdes who was squatting on the floor eating her lunch because there was no other furniture in the house. 

Mom doesn't remember this. She doesn't know why they would have left the high chairs to last nor why they would have left us to have lunch in an empty house. But I remember it like it was yesterday. Maybe it's not 100% accurate. Who knows what a two year old mind remembers?

What I do remember is feeling happy, safe, and content, giggling down at Lourdes, who, I remember, had a loving, caring, and joyful smile beaming back up at me.



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This post is a part of my 30 Days of Writing Challenge. In an attempt to make writing a habit, I'm challenging myself to writing something everyday for 30 days. Inspired by countless posts I've seen on Pinterest, I've chosen a random list of 30 writing prompts that I'm going to use. Hope you stick around for the month of January to see what I write next!