John Gabriel Beauregard (hereinafter referred to as Gabby) was the last child to be born into the Azarias Beauregard household. As he neared his 2nd birthday Papa was heard to utter "We are going to be caught without a baby".
Being the most recent baby entitled you to all sorts of privileges. All those bigger kids were at your beck and call. All Beauregard children are intelligent and Gabby was among the best. It didn't take long (months) for him to have that "becking" and "Calling" down to an art form. It didn't affect me as much as the others because I was still pretty little and being the last girl, and being cute as the dickens, I was still enjoying privileges of my own.
Usually MRB privileges waned when the next baby was born. Gabby was able to carry these privileges well into his Grade School years and maybe beyond. I can remember instances of his chagrin when the outside world didn't share his parent's fascination with him. He truly expected all things to go his way. I think he used crying as a mechanism a little longer than the average kid his age.
When he was playing outside and things were not going according to his plan, he would slam through the back door and throw himself onto that dining room couch crying. Since it was on wheels, the couch would bounce off the kitchen wall so the whole household was aware of his presence. Marcel and Bernie had many a good laugh about this. Once, when they heard Gabby crying outside and were anticipating his next move, they playfully moved the couch out of its normal corner so that when Gabby threw himself into its customary spot, he hit the floor instead.
Gabby and I used to share comic books. Share might be too strong a word for what Gabby used to do. There was a used comic book store on Vernor near Lawndale. You could get well used comic books for 2 cents. Slightly used comic books were 5 cents and brand new ones were 10 cents. You could turn in the 2 cent comics for a penny so you only needed one more penny for each comic you bought.
I remember asking Gabby if I could read his comics once and he said "Beg me". While I was contemplating my best begging strategy he said "After you beg me enough, I'm going to say no". I might have hit him. He might have cried. I'm pretty sure I was bigger than him. Another time when I was looking forward to sneaking his comics after he went to bed he informed me "When I go to bed I'm going to keep them safe, under my pillow".
I'm not sure when Gabby managed to pick up the social skills he enjoys today. He turned out to be quite a delightful fellow in his adult years.
5 comments:
I happen to know that there was not a smart daughter around this time so you did the picture all by yourself. What a smart lady, you should get a job.
Everyone else, I told mom that she should add pictures to the previous posts too, so back me up on this.
I agree with everyone else! I'd love to see more pictures, if you have them. These stories are very interesting, but the pictures enhance them even more.
Oh, and one little question: on your blog page in the links, why is it that my blog link says "Sean's Baby Blog?" Is that just a mistake, or does that mean something. I think Amanda's is on there that way, too, and I was just wondering.
Have a great day!
Sean
Oh never mind about that last thing I said. I just checked back on your page and it has been changed. So, just forget that part! ha ha ha
Talk to you later!
Sean
Sorry Sean, I coped Marisa's Baby Blog to do the links and apparently did not take out the "baby" part. Apparently Mom or one of her other smart daughters fixed it already.
I remember that store on Verner and the prices you report were the same when I frequented the place. I read a lot of comic books in my time. I remember getting ten at one time and not leaving the house until I had read every one.
One of the things that dismayed both Bernie and me was the double standard that Pappa had for Gabby. We just knew he was getting away with things that would earn us the strap. The message I took from this is that life is fair and there is nothing you can do about it. (Except, liesh)
My version of Gabby and the couch is that he always disliked something in his dinner dish. Upon being told that he had to eat it, in a fit of pique, he would slide out of his seat run around the wall (the couch was against the wall which was to Gabby's back)and throw himself on the couch and cry. We had witnessed this so often we noticed he did not look where he was going, just rounding the wall and throwing himself. We moved the couch from the wall knowing he was going to have that fit, he was so predictable. When he hit the floor he really had something to cry for. I was not sorry for doing that then and I am not sorry now. The little tyrant deserved it.
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