#52Ancestors - Week 50 - Naughty

In the festivities before Christmas my two school age grandchildren could be heard singing enthusiastically parts of the song,  Santa Claus is Coming to Town which includes the line - He's going to find out who's naughty and nice. My six year old grandson was reminded on several occations that he would end up only with a potato in his stocking if he did not stop being naughty.

The theme for the third last post in this series of #52Ancestors is Naughty. Looking at definitions of naughty in a number of online dictionaries the word usually refers to children in the context of being badly behaved, disobedient or not doing as they are told. Frequently young children learn by pushing the boundaries, sometimes with unfortunate results. Competition between siblings can sometimes end in disaster as this childhood recollection from my mother, who lived on a sheep station in south western Queensland, illustrates:

I had a very lonely childhood I suppose though I didn't think so at the time. There was only my brother, Michael, who was three years older. We did not have much in common. I guess I was my father's little girl until four or five, then I was run over.

The story as I remember it was I was with Mother and Huhu, who was driving. Michael and I were in the back (of the car). Not far from the homestead we came to a gate and we both wanted to open it. We had an argument. The door was opened and I somehow managed to fall out of the car. The car went over my leg above the right knee. It was not broken but a broken leg may have mended better. Fortunately Huhu, being a nurse, knew what to do. I was rushed into hospital and was in hospital for a couple of weeks. I still have a nasty scar. I remember walking around proudly with a large bandage on my leg.

The above incident would have occurred around 1930. Reading between the lines in the above tale both the children were no doubt being naughty and probably ignored the adults in the front of the car who would have been trying to keep the peace. I suspect that there were rules about taking turns to open and close gates. I know that many years later my sister and I would sometimes have discussions as to whose turn it was to open the gate when we were visiting my grandparents' farm. My two older grandchildren have constant arguments in the back of the car. Times do not change.

Mum and Uncle Michael when not arguing