The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1956-12-06

Il ~
|ivisit for day or SO. III .s.
After the speaking it was
pleasure indeed to have Mr.. ant
Mrs. Scrap Luke and Mr. and Mrs
!. Stamper come by the Freeman
home for an hour or SO of goot
talk. sf. liz
i | simply cannot understand TIL
workings of the mind of a person
| who will drive out into the coun
/ try and dump out cats and dogs t.
| starve; neither can | understand
people dumping their garbage OF
/ the land of others, now | add Il
4 my list-the hunter who will hun
4 quail month before the season
/ opens, and on someone's lane
! where he isn't wanted.
4 BEING A FOURTH GRADE
/ ROOM MOTHER CAN BE TIKI
MOST MEMORABLE OF EXPE
| RIENCES. Z :'.'-
i At our house the big yellow
school truck stops each. and ev,
cry /. afternoon right on the do
of AIS By that time ! am so.hun
cry to see. the children i vii
Iagree to anything, s,.sr...., .T-t.
!. When a mother tries to listen tc
several children talk. at the same
] time and make intelligent an.
swers to their questions. some
times she gets herself into deer
water right over her home
perm if she isn't careful = and
that IS what happened to me a
month or so ago.
The boys were popping infor-
nation about their school work
and classmates, along with some
| questions my way = between
making jelly sandwiches and try
ing to slice pound cake thin
enough SO there would be some
for school lunches the next day,
was spreading sweetness and
sunlight: eNNeryWhefes ALONG with
the sielly,Iiiifff Ii'}
|,i3 MaNbe.iI wasn't listening close
tlWhen my daughter came. up with
Something that Sounded like this.
l@"Wouldnt you love to be room
mother to helthird and fourth
or., occ;, n ilSatl II FE.S!
i'slapped a,spobn of wild plhm
jelly on IA slice of bpown bread,
to. tucked iaiifeW pecan halves be-
tween the bread slices, and with
the same breath poured milk
around. On the last of my breath
l, IA very, weak, loving moment,
said, Why Rose, Jr., I'd love to
+ be room mother
As she sat at1the. kitchen table
and effewed carefully as the
fourth grade teacher told her to
twenty chews to the nouthful
eit: viii drive you stone crazy to
watch an@eight. year; old do ev-
erythlng on hesteacher says. do)
she told me that only one other
.mother would agree to be a room
mother, and in a last desperate
effort to find someone she had
told them | would be one.
got along fine in September:
october the first part was grand
only cookies and punch once
ana field trip to gather leaves
and berries for nature study =
along with the berries we gath
cred twelve wasp stings Give on
me- three briar scratches. one
lost shoe (brand new the little
boy said and his mama was going
TO be mad as hops if | didn'tfind
1t one killed snake and as | fin
satled the snake off one child said,
Why would have spit tobacco
Juice IL bis eye if YOU had gotten
tout of,fhe wass y II,
!. ! aoaked and SURG enough the
fs e IS u i1o \ ;ssavasr rolling a wad Of.
fa.1bit tobaeeo around like a pro-
fessional cheweis g.
GANG Halloween and the room
mothers We're expected to turn
themselves wrong side out for a
party, SO said my daughter. She
mad promised six dozen cookies.
OF the pin wheel type-you know
the kind with two colors rolled
together, making whirl effect.
! Wab to make the cookies with
the, chocolate part on the outside,
Tor Mary's mother was going to
make the vanilla part outside.
MAKING the cookies is easy as
falling off a slippers log-you
make two measures of ice box
cookies, leave one the natural
color and add melted chocolate
TO the other BATCH Roll each COLOR
out on Waxed.. paper, and simply
pop one on top of the other, then
roll up, let chill and slice to bake.)
When Rose, Jr. came home from
school she discovered that / had
made the vanilla ron on the out
slde-she was crushed for now
all the cookies would be alike
and would | please let her take
my linen napkins in place Of the
paper ones | had planned on.
And would | dress up in my
best dress, the go-to-meeting-one.
ana not wear SO much lipstick,
and fix my fingernails a real
bright red-and above all when | |
stood up to be counted (the room