Kids’ Page - Changes!

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November 2001

Kids’ Page

CHANGES!

Mrs. Anne Groenenboom

“Amy, have you noticed how Mum and Dad stop talking whenever we go near them, as if they have something they don’t want us to know about?” Chris asked his sister.

Amy nodded. “Maybe they’re talking about our Christmas presents!” she said hopefully, but Chris shook his head.

“I don’t think so. Mum seems very excited about something and she wouldn’t get so excited about Christmas presents.”

“Maybe she’s having another baby!” Amy remarked. Chris gasped, stunned at Amy’s suggestion. Surely things were busy enough at home without another baby! Joel still needed watching every minute or he was into everything! One little kid in the family was more than enough to cope with!

Chris was very quiet that afternoon as he sat nibbling an apple and staring into space while Amy and Carla talked non-stop about their day at school. Suddenly, however, he sat up and listened when he heard Amy asking, “Mum, are we going to have another baby?” Mum looked at Amy in surprise. Chris held his breath as he waited for Mum’s answer. He heaved a sigh of relief as his mother replied, “No, Amy, we’re not having another baby. Whatever made you ask that?”

“Well, Chris said you and Dad have been discussing something important and you seemed excited, so I thought it might be the reason,” Amy explained.

“No, that’s not what we have been discussing, Amy. We have a surprise for you, but we couldn’t tell you until everything was definite. When your father comes home, we’ll tell you all about it.”

As soon as they heard Dad’s car in the driveway Amy raced to get Dad’s cup of coffee ready, then they settled around the table, anxious to hear what their parents had to tell them. Dad seemed to take ages to finish his coffee and Amy could stand the suspense no longer.

”Dad, please tell us what the surprise is!”

“Well, we’ve been talking with your grandparents because they’ve decided to sell their house and look for somewhere smaller to live.” Dad told them. “That old house needs lots of work to keep it looking good and the garden is much too big for them, especially now that Grandpa has had a heart attack.”

“Where will they live now?” Chris asked, still wondering what the surprise was.

“They’ll be coming here, to live with us,” Mum told them. Amy and Carla squealed excitedly, but Chris was lost for words. He remembered how crowded their house was when they had visitors and wondered how they’d all fit in. How could Mum and Dad let this happen? Maybe he’d have to give up his bedroom at the end of the back veranda and share a room with Joel.

“You don’t look very happy, Chris. What’s the matter?” Dad asked. Chris didn’t know what to say. Finally he asked the most important question of all. “Where are they going to sleep? We don’t have any spare room for them.”

“I hoped you’d be happier about your grandparents coming to live with us, Chris,” Mum said and Chris could hear the disappointment in her voice. He stared miserably at the table. How could he feel happy about something that was going to cause a big upheaval in the lives of the whole family?

“Chris, we may be cramped together for a while, but it will only be for a few weeks, because we’re planning to buy a bigger house or build onto this one to make it big enough,” Dad explained. “Meanwhile, we’ll just have to make do and I’d like you to be reasonable about it.”

“But how can we buy a new house or make this one bigger? We don’t have enough money, do we?” Chris asked. He knew how careful his parents had to be with what Dad earned.

“Your grandparents will use the money from the sale of their house to help us buy another house or build on, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Dad told him.

“We could put a caravan in the back yard for the time being, but we’re not sure that Grandma and Grandpa would like living out the back, so far away from the bathroom and toilet, “ Mum explained.

“I could live in the caravan and they could have my room!” Chris said excitedly. “I’d love that! Please say that I can!”

“Well, I guess that would solve our problem, but are you sure you won’t be lonely sleeping out there all by yourself?“ Dad asked.

“I’m not afraid of noises in the night, like Amy is! Living in a caravan will be fun!“ Chris replied. “I can hardly wait until Grandma and Grandpa get here!”

“They’ll be here at the end of next week, so we’d better get the house ready this weekend,” Mum stated. “Do you mind if Amy has your room, Chris?”

“That’s OK, provided she doesn’t get scared out there all by herself, you know what she’s like!” Chris answered.

Everyone looked at Amy, who had butterflies in her tummy already at the thought of being so far away from the rest of the family at night. She knew she probably would be a bit scared, but she wanted to prove to Chris that she wasn’t a little kid any more, so she said she’d be fine.
“Chris will be in the caravan, just outside your window, so you won’t really be on your own,“ Mum reassured her and she began to feel more confident.

“Well, I’m glad that’s all settled,” Mum said. “We’ll put Joel and Carla together in Joel’s room and give the girls’ room to Grandma and Grandpa.”

“We need to talk about the way things will be different once they’re here,” Dad reminded them. “Your grandparents are not used to living with a tribe of kids in the house any more and we’re not used to having older people living with us, so it’s going to take us all time to adjust. It will be quite different than when they were here for a couple of weeks’ holiday.”

“We won’t have to be quiet all the time, will we?” Amy asked anxiously, remembering how it had been when Grandpa was sick.

“No, Amy,” Mum replied. “But we certainly expect you all to be considerate and that may mean being quiet at times. We’ll have a family conference together when they get here and we can work a few things out then.”

“That’s why we need to have a bigger house. It’s important for Grandma and Grandpa have a part of the house where they can be by themselves some of the time, because being part of a big new family may be quite difficult for them too,” Dad explained. “We need to pray that everything will work out OK, in the meantime.”

“Dad, where are we going to put all Grandpa’s and Grandma’s furniture?” Amy asked anxiously. “There’s no room for it here, is there?”

“Their furniture will be put into storage and Uncle Bill will arrange for it to be sent when we’re ready for it,” Dad explained

By the end of the next week, Amy, much to her surprise, was coping quite well with sleeping in Chris’s room and Chris had settled into the caravan, which Mum and Dad had borrowed from a family from the church. Mum and Dad had already looked at a few houses, but there didn’t seem to be anything suitable on the market. The family prayed every day for things to work out, but nothing happened and Dad kept reminding them to be patient.

“You know that God answers our prayers in his own time and in his own way and I’m sure it will all work out soon. We’ll just keep praying and wait and see.”

Finally the day came when Grandma and Grandpa were due to arrive and the children were quite disappointed when Mum said they had to go to school as usual, rather than going to the airport.

“There’s not enough room in the car for all of us and your grandparents with all their luggage as well,” she reminded them. “If you’re at school, it will give your grandparents time to get settled in and rest after their trip.”

When the children arrived home, Chris noticed that Grandma and Grandpa both looked very tired and he realised that leaving their home must have been very stressful for them. Maybe they were worried about how things were going to work out, too. He gave them both a big hug and said, “I’m glad you’ve come to be part of our family!” and Amy and Carla agreed.

SOMETHING TO DO:

Together with your family, discuss some of the problems older people face and try to think of ways that you might be able to help an older person, maybe a grandparent or an elderly friend.
If your grandparents don’t live close to you, you could adopt an older person, perhaps someone in your church who may be lonely because he or she has no family living nearby.
Work out ways to get along better with the people living in your house. Think about the way you behave. Are you sometimes uncooperative and selfish? Ask the Lord to help you to think more about others and less about yourself.

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