Monday, August 29, 2016

Catalogs

The mailman stopped by our mailbox a few minutes ago, and Rosebud ran out to see what he left for us.

Nothing special. A catalog, a credit card offer, and a college brochure. If there's something I miss from our Amish years, it's the interesting mail we used to get.

Everything landed in the trash, including the catalog, which made me feel a little sad as another wave of nostalgia swept over me.

Not so long ago, catalogs were greeted with enthusiasm. Rosebud and Sunbeam would go through them and cut out the pictures of furniture, bedding, food, and clothes. Especially the clothes. They each had a family of paper dolls, which were simply pictures of people found in catalogs.

I can't even begin to count the hours they occupied themselves playing with their make believe world filled with paper people and possessions. Creating homes for their families. Visiting each other, working, playing, laughing.

If I had kept track of the time, I'm sure it would have added up to years.

It was their choice of pass time from the time Rosebud learned how to wield a pair of scissors with any amount of skill, until only a year or so ago.

They flipped through the catalog a little bit before it landed in the trash. "This would have made a great paper doll catalog," they remarked before going on their merry way of working on a craft project. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

I'm enjoying every day, but some days it's harder than others seeing how fast time is flying by. How fast our children are growing up. I'm reminded of how soon today will be only a fond memory, and I want to make the most of it while it is here.

7 comments:

  1. I don't remember mail-order catalogues, but my sister and I used to cut up the old Wards and Sears catalogues as soon as the new ones came in. We set up housekeeping in shoeboxes, leaning the sofa against the side, and a doll "sitting" on top of it.
    And we must have marked off every item in the toys department at Christmas!

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  2. It is times like these we must keep reminding ourselves the best is yet to come. Following the how fast time is flying thought, a grandkid or two is bound to have a play catalog family before you know it :)

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  3. Ahhh. I know exactly how you are feeling. I wish I had stopped and committed to memory each and every "ordinary" event of our children's childhoods. They are over and done now and I missed so much because I was busy cleaning and working. I'm so glad you are taking note of these precious moments Mary Ann.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  4. My brother and I always lament the passing of the Christmas catalogs that we would pester my mom about as soon as the leaves began to change... we knew by then that they must be coming out soon. Now it's a Christmas pamphlet... if we're lucky. There's plenty of perks of shopping on Amazon and Ebay, but I do miss a real catalog. My kids are too young to really have had any catalogs, unfortunately. That makes me sad.

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  5. I try really hard to hold on to those moments, but they still slip away. The ordinary days spent with them are so sweet.

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  6. I just finished reading The Miting per your suggestion. It was very interesting. Do you know if Dee Yoder wrote a follow up book?

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  7. Oh good... my catalog chopping girls are normal! : ) I don't think I'll miss all the paper snips when we outgrow this age though.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.