Fond Memories/Sasquatch Hot Sauce

     More seasoned parents used to tell me how fast little kids grow up. It didn't phase me; my sons would be little forever, and I would be destined to never get a full night's sleep. In reality, that time did go very fast, and I would happily trade a few nights sleep for a chance to snuggle with those silly little boys again.
     Not many years ago, my sons and I were at mass one Sunday morning. Each time we got up to sing or knelt to pray--when it was time to sit down again, two of the boys were constantly fighting over sitting closer to me. I felt impatient and looked haggard. When it was time to offer those around us a sign of peace, I turned to the man behind me, who was with his teenage daughter. He laughed and said, "Oh, yeah--they are fighting over you now. Enjoy it while you can." He motioned comically to his daugther and said, "I can barely get her to stay in the same room with me."
     I didn't really think that would happen in our house, though. . .
     Well, we are in the throes of the stage now, and while I celebrate the fine young men they are becoming, it is still very difficult. It's hard not to feel guilty about all the times I wasn't truly in the moment with them when they were younger. They don't currently fight over who gets to sit by me, but I still have my stories and memories about when they were little. And those will always be mine. Here is one of those stories.

February 2006; Conversation with the boys in the van on the way to school. . .

Freeman asked me if I knew that they had a WHOLE SET of Encyclopedias in his kindergarten classroom (?!) He said they had just had the "B" volume. When Miss Fewins switched some books around, she put the "B" volume away, and the kids got upset. So Miss Fewins put the "B" volume back out, and asked the librarian if they could put out the other volumes in their classroom as well.

So, now they have a WHOLE SET of Encyclopedias, which seemed very exciting to Freeman. Encyclopedias that EVEN have "Abominable Snowman" and "Bigfoot" in them! "Abominable Snowman" is in the "A" book, and "Bigfoot" is in the "B" book.  Antonio thought there were 2 pictures of Bigfoot, but Freeman quickly informed Antonio the difference--one was Bigfoot, one was the Abominable Snowman.

I mentioned that another name for Abominable Snowman is "Yeti" and Franklin said another name for Bigfoot is "Sasquatch."

"What?!!" Freeman demanded. "HOTSAUCE???!!!"

"No, Sasquatch!" sighed Franklin.
Then we decided to invent a brand of hotsauce called "Sasquatch Hotsauce:  Big Hot."

Freeman started to tell us about what he would DO if he saw a Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman in real life, when Frederick, in True Big Brother Fashion, rolled his eyes and said dryly (in his most mature tone):  

"They're NOT REEEEEAL."  (Sheesh!)

Freeman put his hand horizontally to his forehead, as one does when they are shading their eyes and peering far into the distance. He squinted and said confidently, 
"They're out there, Frederick. They're out there. . . somewhere."