Helvi Oosterman
August 3, 2010 by gerard oosterman
Little boys love rummaging in those two-dollar shops that are mushrooming in the poorer parts of our cities and country towns. They are never happier than when you empty your purse or handbag on the table and divide the collection of coins in equal lots. ‘Oh, so much money,’ says the youngest who has not yet developed his monetary skills, and who still thinks that having $ 4, 76 equals being rich.
They find weird things like slime, and ‘stuff’ that you throw at windows or smooth painted doors, and that sticks there if you are lucky, and not if you aren’t. The rubber skeletons made in Taiwan are huge favourites. On the way home the skull usually comes loose and this will cause some grieve.
A quick promise of another one on the next trip, usually dries the tears and allows the welcome sleep to come and sooth the pain. Then there are the little hard balls that bounce and which you usually lose on the street on the way to the car, but thank god your brother or cousin has a six-pack of soft balls, that don’t bounce but allow themselves to be squeezed into any shape by sweaty little hands.
The little boys also always find a game that consists of a tiny plastic box and an even tinier ball that you have to shake through a maze, and finally out of the box. After a few tries, and no success in releasing the box-prisoner out, the game becomes boring and it’s carelessly dropped on the floor at the back of the car.
Gold coloured swords, and hatchets so blunt they that can’t cut butter, let alone hurt a friend, are high on the boys’ shopping lists. The first duel is not even finished when one fighter’s sword breaks in half, and this in turn breaks the dueller’s heart. Luckily you still have your inflatable plastic animals, dragons and dinosaurs to blow up. This kind of hard work is best left to kindly granddads. It takes a while to get them fully shaped, almost painfully slow for the little boy who wants to take his zoo into the swimming pool. It’s not a long walk to get there, long enough to deflate the dragons though, too many prickly things on the way…
When the three year old turns into five year old, the amount divvied up for a shopping trip has to be doubled. A couple years later it has to be enough to buy a Nintendo and so it goes. Finally they are not cute toddlers anymore but have turned into nice ten year olds who come to stay with their musical instruments and laptops under their arms.
They don’t cry so easily anymore over minor breakages; they know more about computers than their grandma, who in her turn still knows a little bit more about spelling and comes in handy when all are sitting at same desk.
Those endless excursions to dime stores have paid off handsomely; the boys understand maths, and can do adding and subtracting without calculators. They have also learnt about the value of money and are all saving up for their BIG purchases, and they thank Opa for teaching them about frugality, that most wonderful of Dutch virtues!
Lovely story Helvi! A glimpse into ‘grandma’s world’…
🙂
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It’s been eerily quiet at Pigs the last few weeks, has every one gone door-knocking for the up and coming elections 🙂
Elections really bring the worst in people…
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I don’t know Helvi…
I was beginning to wonder whether I’d scared people off by posting my music posts… or else that I was beginning to suffer from ‘overexposure’.
In any case, once Cyrus comes to an end, in about 3 or 4 episodes time, I’m planning on taking a long vacation from the Pigs… I’ll still drop in occasionally to visit you all; but I have some serious projects on the back burner and I need to take some time off to continue working on them… I think Hell Hospital is at a good enough point to call it the end of Chapter 1… but it was just a diversion really; I need to put it on a back burner and concentrate on other stuff for a while…
But you’re right about elections bringing out the worst in people…
🙂
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asty, gez and I are at the moment in a bit of no man’s land, in transit, taking a breather before moving again in October to our ‘final’ destination, we’ll be too busy soon enough…
No doubt we’ll see you on UL, when all this election frenzy is over and they will put up articles other than about Julia and Abbott 🙂
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I haven’t gone yet, Helvi!
😉
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Sorry, folks, bin offline for over a week since we moved.
Mmm $2 shops.. avoid em like the plague!
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asty, good to see you’re still lingering at Pigs; have you welcomed your young friend Elijah here, on leashed?
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Big M, when the kids are between three to five, they’ll drag you there. When a bit older it’s all brands, names, and pricey…
You don’t have to go in , you just have to PAY.
Thank god for the LITTLE boys, love them!
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Helvi, I think I managed to see the writing on the wall, when my boys were little. They never knew what the inside of a $2 shop looked like!
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Indeed I did, Helvi… and Jayfa too!
Mind you, I didn’t know Elijah was quite so ‘young’ mind you… at least, not judging by the way he argues; whether or not I agree with him, which I often don’t, his arguments are usually at least well-considered and much fairer than many others who call themselves christians on the religious blogs…
I must say it’s nice to see some ‘new blood’, though I still miss old friends too…
🙂
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Hi Helvi.
My apologies for being AWOL. FM’s Dad is still in hospital. Tim the Cabin Boy has been crook. I’m working full time and run off my feet. The ACAT assessment for FM’s Dad was incredibly “low care” but the nursing home said “No Way – High care !” so now it’s healthcare system roulette. ACAT appeal coming. Family chaos…….
I’ll be back on deck as soon as I can. Hnag in there friends of the Pig’s Arms
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Hnag in there Emmjay
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Thanks Gez, could you not make the story-teller’s name any more KAPITAL 🙂
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Only the best and most outstanding will be for you.
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