Planning a Pyramid

 With a whole bunch of kids and some of them beginning to leave home, it somehow occurred to us to build pyramids at Easter and/or Christmas when many of them were home. In the early years, it was easy. Our youngest was quite young, maybe 6. Maybe 5 or 7 but somewhere around 6. That meant the other kids ranged from maybe 20 on down. 

It was only a year or two before our youngest was more like 8 or 9 and the kids in their teens and pre-teens were quickly getting bigger and those slight differences all added up to where John Paul's head was scraping the ceiling of our living room. At that point, we had to move the annual pyramid outside. We mostly switched it from a Christmas pyramid to an Easter pyramid to accommodate the weather of a northern state.

It has been a fun series of pictures over the years seeing who took part in the 10 required to make the 4-3-2-1 pyramid. 

• Some years my kids' father took part. 
• One year, my daughter's college friend from Korea, who couldn't be home over the holidays, took part so that the three girls made up the second row with the twins on top of them and my youngest at the top.
• One or two years I was in the picture in the row of three with my two daughters.
• Another year, my step-daughter, while her father and I were first seeing each other, was part of the row of three girls.
• In various years, our neighbor's son was part of it, some years sitting in front and in the last year, standing on top of the pyramid.

As the kids got older, bigger, and heavier, the boys on the bottom had a harder time holding their position. They told me I didn't understand the strength it took to hold the weight on top of them. We set up a ladder for the youngest to climb that height quickly and get in place to take the picture.

We realized we had to scramble to get the picture while they could still hold the weight. We tried to get the dog and at least one cat in the picture, but it became a game to see if we could do that before they all collapsed and we had fun pictures of that collapse in action, one with my daughter-in-law holding the cat in front of the collapsing pyramid in an attempt to get all the kids and animals in the picture!

The last year we built the pyramid was Christmas, 2020. Life was changing. I think we all knew there wouldn't be an Easter 2021 pyramid. One of our neighbors at that time was from Germany. He and his son spent most holidays with us. We knew from previous experience that the younger kids were now big enough that the lower layer couldn't necessarily bear the weight of a 4-3-2-1 pyramid.

Never mind that the numbers didn't add up. Whether it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, I don't remember, but there were 15 of us including a grandson too young to take part, a daughter-in-law too pregnant to take part, and one person required to take the picture. The numbers now included my future son-in-law. We took into account the boys' previous warnings of the weight being put upon the bottom row. 

We spent a great deal of time working the numbers and configurations and weights. A basic pyramid needed ten--fewer than we had. The next layer required 15--more than we had. We considered who could reasonably take part in the pyramid and the need for a photographer, in addition to the weight put upon the bottom layer and how quickly everyone must get into place.

We sketched out several possibilities, took down everyone's weight and how that factored into those on the lower layers. We sketched out several possibilities. And finally...we decided on one.

We made our signs: BAD IDEA that my daughter-in-law would hold, pointing to the pile of kids in the pyramid, and BUT FUN that I held on the other side. 

It was late December in Minnesota. It was cold!!!

We laid our plans carefully, everyone knowing their role before we went outdoors. We set down tarps so the boys on the lowest layer wouldn't be kneeling in the snow. 

They lined up in rows behind each other, in order of how they'd get up on the pyramid, most of them in shoes but our neighbor's son, who would be in the top, in his stocking feet, ready to get into position fast. 

On a count of three, literal or figurative I couldn't tell you, the first row of six dropped to their hands and knees, the second row of four scrambled on top, and Cameron in his bare feet climbed up as fast as he could, with my daughter-in-law and I posed at either side. Our neighbor, Cameron's father, Lars, snapped pictures as fast as he could.

Over the years my kids were at home, people often expressed surprise or curiosity about 'how I did it.' I think many people worry that having kids, especially more than two or three, will take too much of their time. My kids are now grown and on their own. While I certainly manage to fill my time with writing, marketing, my podcast, and the farm work (both animals and building and repairing), I also miss having my kids around. I loved those years and have so many wonderful memories.

Moms, Dads: Treasure every single moment you have with your children.