ROBERT DOUGLAS NAYLOR
I explained before how, when Rob was born, and the hospital phoned to tell Doug he had a little son, 7 lbs. 11 oz., he was so pumped he phoned everybody and told them the baby had arrived, and when they asked how big he was, he told all and sundry that the weight was 11 lbs. 7 oz. Slight reversal in figures there! So of course, the word spread around pretty fast, and congratulations started coming in, cards, phone calls, “Wow! What a huge baby…How’d you manage that?” His two elder sisters, then almost 5 and almost 2, were thrilled with him, and waited on him hand and foot, he certainly thrived in our household and quite enjoyed being the centre of attention, I’m sure.
I also told in another post, about Rob and the butter dish….you all remember that one! Like all our kids, Rob grew up loving animals, the more pets around, the merrier. Kitties, dogs, hamsters, birds, (we drew the line at snakes or creepy crawlies of any kind…not allowed). Rob hasn’t changed to this day. In fact, I have memories of a baby racoon that wreaked havoc wherever it went….they are WILD animals after all, but so fun!
Rob especially loved to watch the milkman come down the alley to deliver our milk every day; in fact, the first words he ever uttered after he mastered mumma and dadda, were “Mukkman, mummy! Mukkman comin”…..and he’d rush outside to watch the big horses pulling the milk wagon. He especially loved bears! He had his most precious book, of the three bears and Goldilocks, and he must’ve heard that story 10,000 times….in fact the most thrilling moment of his little life was one day, when we were driving along Saskatchewan Drive by the front entrance to Labatt’s Brewery on the river bank. In front of the entrance was a stone statue of a bear, almost life size, and of course, Rob recognized it at once and shouts out “Bear bear! Bear bear!” We always had to take that route after that. So Rob could see the Bear bear. Rob had a marvellous collection of Matchbox cars and trucks, and some Dinky toys….every pay day, his dad would go buy him another of those great little detailed vehicles. I remember his favorite was of a milk wagon, with one horse, one of the Matchbox collection. These things are worth a mint nowadays, in antiques shops. Those toys were so well made, of metal, they never fell apart like your plastic stuff nowadays; his dad also made him a wooden box with a sturdy lid on it to house his collection. Rob learned to look after his toys, I don’t think he ever lost one of them. A very active chld, he loved sports and became quite good at them. His dad would take him out in the yard and they’d play catch endlessly.
Here’s a few funnies from my collection of funny sayings…
Robby (pressing his hands tightly over his eyes)…”Lookit, mumma. Me turn off my lights!”
Daddy: Robby! Robby! Where is that kid anyway?
Rob: He’s in my bed. Me Sleeping!
Robby: (5) Mums do all the work, don’t they?
Me: Yep!
Robby: Know what I’m gonna be when I grow up, mum?
Me: No, what?
Robby: Just a plain dad!
Robby: Something’s the matter with my feet….they got clumps in them (cramps, I guess, anyway, they hurt!).
Rob was really a popular kid in school, he had scads of friends, and they were in and out of our house like a river going through it. I’m sure he got up to lots of deviltry behind our backs, in fact I think his sisters were probably more aware of his misdemeanors than his parents ever were. My worst memory is of all four of the older kids, all with the red measles at the same time, all in our bed, with the room darkened as much as we could arrange, miserable as all get-out, I thought it would never end……looking back at it now, I just didn’t know how lucky I was that they all broke out at the same time, and it was all over in a week! Consider the alternative!
Linda, Judy…..what do you remember about Rob?
isn't there a story about Uncle Rob and a raccoon at the zoo? I think I heard something like that about him trying to steal one from the zoo? The brothers and sisters always know more then the parents, I was the parent to my siblings about stuff that my parents didn't know about. They owe me big time :p
ReplyDeleteSeems to me I recall something about that one too, Kristy....it was a raccoon, wasn't it? I blame it on Debbie Giles (Rob's erstwhile wife), she was even crazier than Rob about animals. As I recall, they kept it for a coupla weeks, then returned it just as craftilly as they acquired it, and once again it garnered a headline in the Calgary paper. "Baby raccoon returned to zoo in A-1 shape" I remember that little sucker running up my pant leg, and depositing its little self around my neck like a furry collar. Man! it had sharp claws, just as adept as little hands at getting into stuff. And curious! just as much as any cat I've ever seen. It was surely cute! worth the borrow, Debbie said. I didn't really find out that it belonged to the zoo until after it got back from its "holiday"
ReplyDeletethen Rob and Debbie confessed to us....I would not have been sympathetic toward their cause, "Save The Wild Animals" or whatever it was that prompted the heist. Ah well, in the end they repented...I guess. Most of the early scars had healed by then.
Kristy, have you ever told some (or any) of the antics of your brother and sisters to your parents? If so, what ones? How long are these secrets held, forever?
not sure how long the secrets are held for, but not for me to say :) it was mostly just picking up if they were unable to drive, or making sure parties were under control at our house which was NOT fun at times. I DREADED the days my parents went to the cabin (which was like every weekend)
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