Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun

WHEN OUR PARENTS WERE AWAY

WHEN OUR PARENTS WERE AWAY Reprinted with permission from Rex G. Krepps, As Sparks Fly Upward (Cloverdale, BC: Friesen, 1989). The six Krepps children, all born within a seven-year period, could always entertain themselves, and an appreciative audience only added to the fun. Aileen, being the eldest child of the family, had the awesome responsibility of keeping the younger children in line, when our parents were absent from the farm for any length of time. It was then that we were at our best as actors, actresses or musicians. Our parents were barely out of the yard before the show began. Our barn had a fairly flat roof, a splendid place for a stage to put on a show for our aunt and our cousins. We needed an orchestra ; so we dragged up the old wash tub to be used as a drum, the boiler and its lid to be used as a viola, and the plunger used as a fine violin. Our imagination appeared to know no limits; we became a famous orchestra! We sang and did some sort of an imitation of a dance. A sugar water mixture was made for a beverage , and poured into bottles. We were well away! Was this the original barn dance? If it was not the first, it was surely one of the most unique. The barn dance and orchestra having retired, we had to think of something else to do. For excitement the dog was sent to chase the horses in the pasture, just to see them run. That was short lived though, for a neighbour came by and threatened to tell our parents what we were doing, unless we immediately called off the dog from chasing the horses. We promised, and ceased that form of entertainment. What was to be done next? Should we have a rodeo? Fine! The calves were in a stall and the pigs were in the pen. What else could a person ask for? It was great fun to come out of the barn door with a whoop and a holler, the calves pitching and bucking to the best of their ability. We stayed on their backs for three, maybe four jumps, then landed in the manure in the corral. Frank and I took turns riding the calves. We were considered cowboys. The girls did not 58 Freedom to Play care to ride those calves, but they happily cheered us on, like good fellows would! It was now time for the pigs to get their run around. Now, a pig is not exactly an easy animal to ride, having nothing to hang on to, and jumping side-ways as they most often did. The trick was to see who could stay on the back of the pig the longest. No one stayed on very long, for with a grumph, and a grunt and a squeal, the pig quickly circled and left us in a heap after a couple of jumps. “Rex, you see that spotted pig, there?” pointed out Donnie. “Can you ride him?” He asked in a daring way. “You bet I can; you just bet your life I can,” boasted Rex. “You head him off to the right, “ shouted Rex to Doris. “You head him off yourself,” hollered Doris in reply. “That pig is crazy, and I’m not. Do you own dirty work.” she declared. The pig was eventually boxed in a corner. Frank waved his hands to make sure the pig was going to put on a good enough show. “Garr-un-m-ph, whoosh whoosh,” said the spotted pig, as Rex bounced gleefully on his back. The glee was short lived. George and Lottie Krepps had finished their shopping early, and returned home to the scene of wash tubs, boilers, plungers, and bottles on the barn roof, and of the boys riding the pigs in the pig pen. That was the last straw. Could those children never behave like other nicely behaved children, reading books and behaving themselves in an acceptable way, when the parents were away? It did not appear they would do so willingly. Perhaps they needed a little encouragement, the feel of a razor strap across their behinds. We got it, all six of us. We stoically took our medicine . The rodeo had been a marvelous event, the strapping was worth it all. Besides that, we had the audience of our aunt and cousins. It was evident that our cowboy skills were not honed to perfection, but...