Destructive Behavior

This is the fourth post in a series written by Frieda, my mother.  These are her memories of her first rambunctious child and their adventures on the mission field.  Click this link to start at the beginning.

Looking back, I realize that many of our friends were not especially happy to have us visit them. Once when we had just been admitted to the home of friends, I put Sara down long enough to hug the hostess. When I looked around, Sara had pulled most of the books out of a book case. Later I was helping with the dishes while she played with our friends’ older child in the next room. The child forgot about her for a minute, and she pulled all the stamps out of his prized stamp album.

On another occasion, she happily sprinkled talcum powder all over our hostess’ bedroom. Imagine cleaning that up without a vacuum cleaner! My mother, whose speech was often seasoned with Scriptural allusions, quoted, “Misery and destruction are in [her] path”!

Actually, you couldn’t argue about “destruction,” but the “misery” was only in the sense of dealing with the disasters. Sara had a happy, pleasant disposition, but it was as if she had an inner motor running and couldn’t be still. And her insatiable curiosity led her to scamper from place to place and from one thing to another so fast that it was hard to keep up with her.

Follow this link to keep reading.