Small(ish) town life

[susiestar]

You know you live in a small town when the "big" parade takes longer to set up than to go by.

You also know that you live in a small town when the coffeehouse downtown hears there is a parade they mark the hot chocolate 1/2 price!

The other stores marked it UP, and the clubs that sold hot cocoa sold 8 oz cups for $1.50. The coffeehouse sold us a 16 oz cup for 85 cents. (so I gave a buck to one of the charities we passed to go to the coffeehouse).

Anyway, things like that (marking down the hot cocoa) are things I like about small town life.

Also, older kids along the parade routes scrambled for the candy and then shared it with little kids around them - even ones that were relatives!

 

[Andy]

We shared our parade candy with a very old lady a few years ago. It has so funny. We put the pail of candy under one of our seats. The elderly lady sitting next to it would occassionally lean over and help herself to the tootsie rolls. We did not know who she was.

 

[Jena]

that sounds so nice. I've always wanted to live in that type of an area. where wer are now, although beautiful is not that. I always wanted to live on a farm actually, get up in the a.m. feed my horses and pigs and collect my eggs!

i'm glad you guys get to do stuff like that, it's those moments and memories that will stay with you for a long time to come.

 

[donna723]

OMG! Are you sure you don't live in the same town that I do? But our 'big' Christmas parade is next Thursday! Every church has a float, lots of little Cub Scouts and Indian Guides, people on horses, all the fire engines and police cars, and the Shriners clowns, bless 'em! Our town is so little we don't even have a marching band - we have to borrow one from a neighboring county every year! I live right in the middle of town and the parade goes by a half block from my house on two sides.

Only difference is that here, some of the bigger kids shove the little kids aside to grab all the candy! A good friend of mine from work is a Shriner and he was the Santa Claus on the float in the parade for years. Last year I watched while one particularly obnoxious older kid would run out every time and grab all the candy before the little ones could get it. The parade had come to a standstill for a minute and I saw my friend, in his full Santa regalia, motion to the kid and the kid went up to the float - he talked to the boy for a minute and the kid actually turned around, walked back to the sidewalk, and sat down meekly on the curb! I couldn't tell what he had said to him, so I asked him the next day at work. He said, "I told him, 'Boy, if I see you do that again I'm going to come down off of this float and kick your a-- to the curb!'" Apparently the threat of being humiliated by having physical violence inflicted on him in public by Santa Claus was enough to persude him to aspire to better behavior!

 

[Hound dog]

LOL Susie. Sounds like our town, and several others around us.

You know you live in a small town when you're walking in front of a float in the parade and recognize those people standing along the street watching......when none of them are family.

Nichole was with the Paramedic Program float in the xmas parade. She saw a friend of mine and waved to her along the route along with several other people she knew. It surprised her because this is another smallish town 20 miles from ours. LOL

The family didn't go to the parade because it was too late in the evening and it was just too darn cold.

 

[mrscatinthehat]

We have our holiday parade back in October. I don't go unless I know someone that is going to be in it. We do have a couple of other parades I go to like the Homecomeing parade and that is always fun.

beth

 

[house of cards]

Shucks, We live in a town like that but we don't have a Christmas parade. We do have a sing along with the tree lighting (with free cocoa) though.

I like how people "get" the differences in your family and you don't have to keep explaining things to people. And you might be suprised to find out how many difficult child's can fit into 1 little town.

 

[trinityroyal]

Apparently the threat of being humiliated by having physical violence inflicted on him in public by Santa Claus was enough to persude him to aspire to better behavior!

 

[KTMom91]

Sounds like our town...our parade is tomorrow night.

 

[Marguerite]

You knows you live in a small town when they don't HAVE a Christmas parade!

Seriously though, difficult child 3 & I drove to the village next door to find that there were a few signs up on the road advertising a kids' beach party at 1 pm. We got to the store (at the beach front) at 1.30 pm to see kids still arriving with parents carrying picnic baskets, beach umbrellas, kites, frisbees etc. The tide was in so I don't know where they would put the beach umbrellas - this is a tidal flat, when the tide is in it's knee deep. Great for little kids.

And you know you live in a small town when you go down to the shops on a Saturday morning just go get some milk, and it takes you two hours because of all the people you stop to say hello to - and you STILL come home without having bought the milk!

We had a lot of hikers running through the village today. In the extreme heat, the sting of the sun, these poor people looked hot, tired, ready for a rest. They were asking for directions to the boat (for the "mainland") so I suggested they jump in the water at the beach while they waited for the ferry. Clothes and all - it's not a problem on the boat, if the sea is rough you can get wet anyway, if you ride outside.

I LOVE small town life!

The main problem we have in summer, is the tourists. Tourist season. And me without a gun.

Marg