Memories Monday

On rainy days, when my mom didn't know what to do with the three of us anymore, she'd sometimes march us down into the basement/playroom and dump a bunch of puzzles in a pile on the floor -- literally, out of their boxes and into one huge pile, all mixed up together. "There," she'd say and make a motion with her hands as if she were dusting them off. "You can come back up when they're done. Have fun." And she'd stomp back up the stairs (clogs, you know) to do whatever it is mothers do when their children are otherwise occupied. (Sit on the couch and eat bonbons while watching the 70's equivalent of Oprah?)

But we liked puzzles, so it wasn't really a punishment. The first task was to sort everything back into separate piles. We then each took an easy puzzle -- the Disney puzzles (64 pieces) or one with horses (50 pieces) -- and did that alone. After that we worked together on the puzzles with 200, 300, 400 pieces, one by one, always in the same order: the edges (flatties, we called them) and then the sky, if there was a sky. Then segments of the puzzles -- a boat, a house, a ball gown. These would be carefully lifted into the puzzle frame and we'd fill in the empty spaces with the pieces that didn't belong to one thing. As a puzzle neared completion the competition would pick up slightly, we'd start rushing, trying to be the one who laid the last piece in its place. Sometimes there would be hiding of pieces under the rug, so that you could pull them out at the last minute, feigning surprise that you'd found the missing piece. But this was generally frowned upon as it didn't help keep up the team spirit, the kids vs. Mom spirit of a rainy afternoon.