Modern Day Little Red Chief

When my husband and I had our three oldest boys, he read them a story his grandparents read to him as a little boy. We laughed through the whole thing and have joked about it ever since.

The story by O. Henry is explained here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ransom_of_Red_Chief

and can be read online for free.

When the youngest of our three sons was five, we had our only daughter. Ten years later, we were blessed with our 5th child ... and 4th little boy.

This child got a quick nick name of "Little Red Chief" by his dad and I instantly agreed. We didn't want to give him a complex (like that would happen) so we have let it be "our" name when talking about the day's activities. There are always a generous amount of them to discuss.

He has taken off running and been from our door to his Granna's a pathway across in a matter of SECONDS.

He (at a year or so old) snuck to the same place when Granna's new home was being built... got into a truck a worker left keys in. This literally happened in a span of three minutes and he was trying to start the truck. I noticed he didn't put the movie in within 60 seconds (yes, he was using a DVD player by then) and asked his brother to check and l.r.c. was already up the hill. He was one.

My sister thought I was being ridiculous to continually warn her of how quickly he can be out of sight. He was around two years old and she was outside talking on the phone with him at her side. Within minutes, she was running through the path... calling his name and trying to find him. He had taken OFF as he walked around her and run straight through his Granna's house from one end to the other by the time she got to him.

These are just small things. There have been books and books and books worth... I kept meaning to write them all down just so we'd believe them. I haven't, until now.

We keep praying and praying for the Lord to guide us. We have worn out a bit after over 23 years of parenting and now grand parenting. With a child like our six year old though... there is no place for fading out or watering down. We have to get back to routines, set strict schedules and fight, fight, fight for consistency.

Here starts a journal of our hike through raising our own little red chief... and some of the "events" along the way. . .