KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS. I can vouch for that. I raised three kids, cared for many others and am now the grandmother of two, one going on seven, the other just turned four.
Recently the grandkids, Isabelle and her little brother, Isaac, stayed overnight. During that short stay, Izzy elicited laughter with her honest observations and her leadership skills.
First the honesty. I don’t recall how we got on the topic, but at some point I shared that I grew up in a house without a bathroom. Taking a bath meant my dad hauling a tin tub from the porch into the kitchen every Saturday evening and then Mom filling it with water. Our bathroom, I explained to Izzy, was a little building outside with two holes cut in a bench. And in the winter, we used a covered pot set inside the unheated porch.
I don’t know that Izzy understood all of this. But, as she sat there listening to Grandma spin tales of the olden days, she assessed. “It sounds like a different world to me!” I laughed at her observation. She was right. Growing up in rural Minnesota in the 1950s and 1960s was, most assuredly, a different world from hers. My granddaughter lives in a sprawling suburban house with four bathrooms. In 1967, my family of birth moved into a new farmhouse with a single bathroom. And a bathtub. Today I feel thankful to live in a house with one bathroom. I wouldn’t want to clean four.
Then there’s BINGO, which we play nearly every time we’re together with Isabelle and Isaac. They were introduced to the game at the Helbling Family Reunion and have loved it since. The kids take turns not only playing, but also calling numbers.
Isabelle has advanced greatly in her BINGO-calling skills. This time, in addressing us, she called us “folks.” I don’t know where Izzy heard that term, but it’s certainly more rural than suburban lingo. I suggested she might be ready to call BINGO next summer at North Morristown’s annual Fourth of July celebration. Unincorporated North Morristown is a Lutheran church and school and a few farm places clustered in the middle of nowhere west of Faribault. Izzy seems well-prepared to call BINGO numbers to the folks there.
I should have shared with my granddaughter that, when I was growing up, we covered our BINGO cards with corn kernels during Vesta’s (my hometown) annual BINGO Night. I expect she would have responded as a child 60 years younger than me: “It sounds like a different world to me!” And I would have agreed.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
i love every word of this and her comments and calling you ‘folks.’ she is an old soul in a young body.
I like your insight of “old soul in a young body.” That resonates.
I love Art Linkletter’s “Kids…” Sweet, happy memories. 🙂
I loved that show also.
Love this story about the Grand Kids. It reminded of me of how in the 50’s and 60’s we did with so much less than the kids today. The term “folks” is what we say here, too. We did have a tiny house with 2 bedrooms and one bathroom for 8 of us, that had a toilet and a sink and shower, but no tub. Taking turns was important with 6 kids and if we couldn’t wait to go to the bathroom, Mom who grew up on a farm would always go, then go outside, LOL. I loved hearing about the kernels of corn used on the bingo cards. 🙂
Ida, I enjoyed reading your childhood memories. We grew up similarly. I also have five siblings. And, yes, we all did with much less and I’m thankful I was raised with “much less.”
You have me cracking up this morning with your post – ha! I say “folks” and people sometimes will ask directly not from here are you. No, I am not and that is okay. We all have our own stories of life and I love that and enjoy listening when people want to share a little bit more of themselves too. Out of the mouths of babes! My nephews have sprouted some humorous lines growing up and still have some fond memories of the best ones. I still remember church bingo, especially the Fall ones where frozen turkeys were handed out as prizes (that was very generous). Happy Day – Enjoy 🙂
Frozen turkeys were the prize at Vesta’s BINGO Night, too. I’d love to hear one of your nephews’ humorous lines, if you’re inclined to share.
I will share one with you. My oldest nephew came to me with a joke – how did the bubblegum get across the road – well Auntie of course on the foot of the chicken. hehe Well of course – how else!
Laughing. That’s great. Gotta love those chicken crossing the road jokes.
Grandchildren bring so much joy to our lives. 😆 Our grandbabies had us laughing so hard when they put on an impromptu play at Itasca State Park this past weekend.
I love that your grandkids put on a play this weekend for you on the spur of the moment. My younger siblings and cousins did that also when the relatives from the Cities came to the farm for a visit. There was no admission price, but you had to pay to leave the show.
Tell me, what was the impromptu play your grandkids performed? Would love to hear the story.
What amazing memories with the sweet grands. I can’t wait until if/when the right time for a grandchild arrives for us. What joy to be around the innocent little ones discovering all ‘the different worlds’ around us. How adorable!
It truly is a joy to experience life from their joyful perspectives. I hope you have grandkids some day…
Out of the mouths of babes! Fun.
I’m sure you could tell stories, too, about the things your four grandkids have said.
Oh Audrey! I enjoy so much your telling of the stories of “our” young ones. I always used to wonder how one could love someone they never saw, but your words show so much love for those children, thus allowing me to love them also. Thank you.
Oh, Great Grandma Norma, your sweet comment moves me to tears. Thank you. I’m happy to share Izzy and Isaac with you via my words.
That Izzy has a great sense of humor and I think she has a handle on things –it really is a different world today than when we grew up, right? Thanks for sharing. I loved it.
I agree that Izzy has a great sense of humor. A much different world for sure.
How endearing! Made me smile.
Just the fact that anyone knows what an outhouse is would be shocking to me. Growing up in those same conditions in Northern MN was weird to most my classmates in the 1970’s.
I am with you on 4 bathrooms, I would hire a maid before I would clean that many!
I know. When I talk to people my age about the outhouse of my youth, they look at me like “you really had only an outhouse when you were a child?” Yes, for the first 11 years of my life.
I know. We had one until I was in the 9th grade and then my Mom was transferred to Louisiana, finally we had an indoor bathroom! But, years later and even to this day the farmstead still has an outhouse, that we all use if we visit (or go before we visit…)
Ha ha, “or go before we visit.” Our outhouse was moved to a roadside park in Vesta. The park is no longer there, the outhouse gone.
Your description of life in your childhood home reminded me of the times I spent visiting my Grandfather’s farm in Sheridan Township (near Belview). The house did not have indoor plumbing. There was a kitchen sink that had a pump but no connection to a sewer system, so the water was collected in a large bucket under the sink and emptied as necessary. And yes, there was certainly an outhouse. Luckily, we only visited in the summer!
Thank you for sharing your southern Minnesota childhood memories. Like your grandfather, my Uncle Mike had a pump in his kitchen sick rather than running water. When we would go there to celebrate his October birthday, we cousins thronged around the water bucket, taking dippers full of cold well water and tipping the water into our mouths. Not much concern about spreading germs back then.