There are millions of starving kids in China who would love those peas! 

Growing up in the 60’s, you couldn’t put one over on your mama, no matter how hard you tried. First of all, they had eyes in the back of their head, the side of their head, maybe even their elbows, cause somehow they saw everything you did. Take peas for instance. Trying to discreetly hide your peas in a napkin, while your mom headed to the kitchen for more gravy, as us kids would hurry to try and give our peas to the dog…impossible!  

Speaking of eyes. There wasn’t a child alive who didn’t know what the “evil eye or (stink eye 👀)” was all about. You couldn’t tell a lie to finagle yourself out of trouble. All my mom had to do was narrow her eyes into slits… cock her head to the side… like a cat licking its lips and locking in its prey. Then she'd pounce… and the unfortunate truth would pour out of us kids the way the batch of Orange Tang I made, without permission, spilled all over the kitchen counter. What a total mess that made. Then came the old fashion "spanking." Or even worse, “Wait until your father comes home.” Of course, every kid knew what that meant--another spanking. Maybe even the belt. Yikes! 

Forced to wait in your room for dad to come home was pure torture. Just the thought of it---a belt slap across your legs or butt---was punishment enough. It was enough to make a child STOP! And THINK! 

For me, I had double the trouble because my mom was an identical twin. That meant two moms! Two sets of evil eyes! Two sets of trouble! Yep! My cousins and I would team up and try and try to fool our mothers but we were up against a magical force called motherhood. And it didn’t help that our moms could complete one another’s sentences; sometimes even saying the exact same thing –simultaneously! To top it all off they could read each other’s minds (with some kind of twin telepathic super power). They’d take one look in unison, two sets of scary eyes, locked in on us. . .then we’d know… Trouble!😮

Back then we didn’t have security cameras, instead we had our mothers, their eyes recording every move we made. Their goal—to keep us healthy and safe. A big thanks to God for these two beautiful women. 💕

Genevra Bonita

A Halted Heart