Bashing Baby's Brains

My younger brother (I was going to say little brother but he's 6'4") is an intelligent, good-looking, humorous, nice guy - no thanks to me.

I was nine years old when Mom asked me one day if I would like to see what she was ordering from the catalog. She made a lot of our clothes, but sometimes ordered clothes and shoes from Aldens in Chicago. (It embarrassed me that we would go into the local shoe store to "try shoes on" so she would know our correct sizes, then say to the clerk, "We'll think about it." then go home and order shoes out of the catalog.)

I remember it was the fall of the year because the big Christmas catalogs from Sears-Roebuck and Montgomery-Ward hadn't come yet. Nor had Aldens, but they often sent out smaller special sale catalogs. It was one of those Mom was holding. I, of course, thought she was ordering something for Betty & me. When she showed me pictures of maternity clothes I asked her why she was ordering those. "Well why do you think?" she laughed. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited and couldn't wait to tell my sister. She and I had been asking for a baby brother or sister for at least two years. After all, Mom's sister, Aunt Lois, was still having babies, why couldn't she?

I also could not wait to go to school and tell my teacher. The next morning our neighbor picked us up and gave us a ride to school. Of course we told them our big news. When we got to school, before I could get inside to relate our surprise, one of the neighbor boys ran in and told everyone, "Lynam's are having a baby!" I was so mad at him. (Still am.) That was OUR news to tell; MY good news.

When we got home from school Wednesday afternoon, February 17, 1954, Mom said Grandma Lynam was coming out to spend the night with us because after supper Dad was taking her to the hospital in Creston. We had known the baby was due anytime, but Mom said she knew it would be that night because there was a full moon and babies were often born when the moon was full.

It was around 10:30 when Dad got home. We heard him coming because he had driven all over the neighborhood honking the car horn - letting everyone know our baby had arrived. We ran downstairs to learn if we had a baby sister or brother. We wanted a brother and we got one. I don't even remember what name they had picked out for a girl, whether the initials would be LLL or not, but for a boy it was Leslie Louis Lynam so his initials would be the same as Dad's, Louis Lavern Lynam.

Five days later they brought him home from the hospital. Betty and I had our real baby doll to play with and care for. I was deemed old enough (ten) to learn to change diapers. I had to put my fingers between the baby's skin and the diaper pin and hear the story of how someone had once pinned a diaper TO a baby. We also had to support the baby's head at all times and be careful of the soft spot.

Leslie was three weeks old when Mom went out to help do the milking one evening. He was asleep in his crib. She told me to watch him, that he probably wouldn't wake up until she was back in the house. I couldn't wait for her to leave so I could "take over". I'm sure I facilitated his waking up just so I could prove I was able to take care of him. I picked him up and layed him on the bed to carefully change his diaper, then carried him out to the living room so I could hold and rock him.

There were two doorways between the bedroom and living room. On the second doorway I hit his head on the door frame. He cried. I panicked. He wouldn't stop crying. I didn't know what to do. I was about to bundle him up and take him to Mom in the barn when he quieted down. I was so afraid I might have caused brain damage, but I was more afraid of telling Mom what had happened.

That summer Betty upset the baby buggy and gave Les a black eye. There was no way she could hide that. But it was many years, at least twenty, before I ever told Mom about bashing my little brother's head against the door frame.

As I said, my little brother is a smart, funny, educated, (lucky) man; in spite of me.