My mom was raised by her aunt and uncle, her dad’s sister.
Her older sister went with her and her dad kept the 2 boys, lived just across the street.
Her cousins were much older and only one wasn’t married and out of the house.
My mom’s aunt was already gray haired, I’m thinking in her late 40’s early 50’s.
She had no patience for young children.
Remember the children are to be seen and not heard?
My mom was a very active child and was ALWAYS in trouble with her aunt.
They said she had “St. Vitus Dance!” Couldn’t sit still.
Sydenham’s chorea, also known as chorea minor and historically and occasionally referred to as St Vitus’ dance, is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet. Sydenham’s chorea is an autoimmune disease that results from childhood infection with Group A beta-haemolytic Streptococcus. It is reported to occur in 20–30% of people with acute rheumatic fever and is one of the major criteria for it, although it sometimes occurs in isolation. The disease occurs typically a few weeks, but up to 6 months, after the acute infection, which may have been a simple sore throat.
She didn’t have Sydemham’s chorea, just very active.
That’s good that her dad and brothers lived across the street. I didn’t know if he was blind if he could care for children. It’s good her aunt kept them with the family, even though she was probably not at the right age, especially with an active child. Did the kids see their mom’s family much?
One of my boys was extremely active. I took him to the doctor to see if there was something wrong with him. After checking him out, doc told me his only problem was thar he was extremely intelligent. Said he needed lots of things to explore and figure out how things work.