Reading Grandma's Attic

"...How could I get a hoop skirt in with out Mom knowing? It was finally decided that I would stop by Sarah Jane's house on Sunday Morning. We would have some excuse for walking to church, and after her family had left, we would put on our hoops and prepare to make a grand entrance at the church.

....We agreed that there could not be two finer looking (8 year old) young ladies in the country than we were. Quickly we set out for church, our hoopskirts swinging as we walked. Everyone had gone in when we arrived, so we were assured of the grand entry we desired. Proudly, with small noses tipped up, we sauntered to the front of the church and took our seats.

Alas! No one had ever told us the hazards of sitting down in a hoopskirt without careful practice! The gasps we heard were not of admiration as we had anticipated-- far from it. For when we sat down, those dreadful hoops flew straight up in the air! Our skirts covered our faces, and the startled minister was treated to the sight of two pairs of white pantalettes and flying petticoats.

Sarah Jane and I were too startled to know how to disentangle ourselves, but our mothers were not. Ma quickly snatched me form the seat and marched me out the door.

The trip home was a silent one. My dread grew with each step. What terrible punishment would I receive at the hands of an embarrassed and upset parent? Although I didn't dare look at her, I knew she was upset because she was shaking. It was to be many more years before I learned that Ma was shaking from laughter, and not from anger!

Nevertheless, punishment was in order. My Sunday afternoon was spent with the big Bible and Pa's concordance. My task was to copy each verse I could find that had to do with being proud." - A snippet from Chapter 1: Pride Goes Before a Fall in "Grandma's Attic"


The adventures of Mabel and Sarah Jane take us back to a time of horses and buggies in which a simple life was the only life, and children were able to make up their own mischief. In Grandma's Attic you will be delighted when reading a collection of stories told by the grown-up Mabel to her grandchild. The child Mabel always meant well, it seems, but didn't always think her ideas through before trying them out with the aid of her best friend Sarah Jane.

From her story of hoopskirts which Mabel and Sarah Jane wear to church one Sunday, treating the minister to a surprise when they sit down and the skirts fly up over their faces, to the birthday cake Mabel accidentally flavors with Watkins Liniment, we have been laughing our way through Mabel's childhood stories. On some nights we have gotten so tickled that we had tears in our eyes. These books have a heavy moral lesson in every story and we adore the little black and white illustrations.

But, watch out!!!

You will get almost every night, "Tell me a story about your Grandma or about some mischief that you got in when you were younger!"

Me: "Why Child I was a little saint. Go ask your Dad about his mischief! Ask him about the time he pretended to be the 6 Million Dollar man and tried to run through a plexi glass door." ;)