Downtown Cleveland Between the Wars

  \

Plans to revitalize downtown Cleveland are in the works.  (11/30/2010)

LINK

January 31, 1991

After filling a cart beyond capacity, I discover that my checkbook "is not in my possession".

No sweat, I tell myself, I'll use the TYME machine.

Which is temporarily out of order.

I unload the cart and allow the cashier to scan its contents.  I fish a dollar bill out of my wallet and explain to her, "Looks like we have a problem.  I forgot my checkbook, and the TYME machine doesn't work.  Could you give me chance for a dollar so I could call my wife?"

'You are so amazing," JoAnna says, not complimentarily, handing off the checkbook fifteen minutes later.

My defensiveness evaporates by the time I return home.

"Your dad is a space cadet," I announce to Andy.

Post-WWII Downtown Clearwater, Florida (Postcard)

Then....

...and now.

LINK

Clearwater takes slow approach to Gateway revitalization. (Tampa Bay Times, 4/20/2008)

January 30, 1991

Since I have a meeting downtown, JoAnna leaves early, before Andy is out of bed.  He wants to take a box of Teddy Grahams to daycare, but I tell him, no, you can have some in a plastic bag. 

The Automation Forum meeting goes well.  Pete Hamon asks me to open the session. 

On the walk back to the ramp, I stop at the Sugar Shack to browse through the record bins.  I walk away with ten albums, including Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, the Jags, Shawn Phillips, Richard Torrance, Henry Gross, the Henry Paul Band, Danny O'Keefe -- 2 of his, I think -- and maybe that's it. 

I'm less than focused at work, and my return to the library is delayed by preparation time for a tuna noodle casserole.  Most of my energy is expended revising ETN notes. 

After picking up Andy, I use household chores as an excuse to delay dinner.  JoAnna returns from a meeting at 8:30.

Post-WWII Downtown Lincoln, Nebraska (Postcard)

Since then.......

LINK

LINK

LINK

LINK

January 30, 1991

I experience an extremely pleasurable nocturnal emission at some indeterminate point. JoAnna rouses me from bed at quarter to 4 to feed Eddie, my underwear still moist at the Y-shaped opening. He gulps down four ounces, then fusses for 30 minutes before falling back to sleep. I sleep until 8, then do my exercises and eat breakfast before running errands. Eddie needs formula, and I need more notebooks, though I buy only one. Before going to work, I fix beef stew in the crockpot.

I meander through the workday, although I do finally get serious about revising my ETN notes. The evening is slow, not much reference.

Pre-WWII Downtown Utica, New York (Postcard)

 

Photo source:  Familypedia

A upturn for downtown Utica?  Utica Observer-Dispatch, 1/10/2010)

LINK

January 28, 1991

I wake up feeling refreshed but can't help but wonder how my off-the-wall my ranting during Superbowl halftime appeared to JoAnna and Barb.  I walk to work, the temperature in the mid-20s, compared to last week's subzero mornings.  The workday is routine and perhaps my concentration isn't as sharp as it should be. I am still avoiding a review of my ETN notes, but then I'm also so familiar with the material from past study and presentations that I certainly don't need to go overboard this time around.  I stay -- past six.  JoAnna calls to inform me that basketball starts at 8:45, which reduces my enthusiasm immediately.  However, the entire family attends, although we almost don't make it since neither of us knows exactly where Schenk School is located.  Both Andy and Eddie are well-behaved fans.

Post-WWII Downtown Reno, Nevada (Postcard)

January 27, 1991

I serve Eddie his early breakfast.  By the time he's settled down and back in his crib, I decide it's too late to go back to bed.  I exercise, then read the paper and drink coffee.  For the most part, it's an uneventful day.  During the afternoon, Eddie and Andy and JoAnna and I take a walk around the block.  Andy has to be carried much of the time. . We nosh on leftovers while watching the Super Bowl game.  Actually, I'm sitting at my desk, reorganizing my notebooks.  The game is mostly background noise for me during the first quarter.  I start to get into the proceedings during the second quarter, but at halftime, I snap.  I rave about wanting the TV to break down so we'll be without one since I know JoAnna will never go out and buy one and that what we're watching is nothing more than a string of commercials occasionally interrupted by a football game.  The sight of Bush's stupidly grinning face sends me reeling out of the room.

Pre-WWII Downtown Hartford, Connecticut (Postcard)

G. Fox & Company Department Store

• 1947:  Established in Hartford 
• 1918:  Eleven-story building open, replacing 5-story structure destroyed by fire.
• 1965:  Sold to May Department Stores Company.
• 1969:  Downtown store's final expansion.
• 1969:  First branch store opens in Waterbury.  (11 more opened during following 2 decades.)
• 1992:  Name change to Filene's.
• 1993:  Downtown Hartford flagship store closes.
• 2006:  Remaining stores sold to Federated Department Stores; name changed to Macy's.

Reviving Ailing Retail in Downtown Hartford.  (The New York Times, 6/9/1993)
Escape from Connecticut's Cities.  (Brookings, 4/8/2001)
Downtown Discount.  (Hartford Business Journal, 2/7/2011)

Source:  Trip Advisor (Hartford:  Architecture)

January 26, 1991

JoAnna and I make the mistake of allowing Andy to sleep with us.  Consequently, I experience a restless night. I take care of Eddie's 5 a.m. feeding, allowing him to fall back asleep on my chest before returning him -- and myself -- to bed.  Around 8 o'clock I stretch my arm and discover that I'm alone in bed.  I then sleep peacefully for two hours.

Until our guests arrive, it's chore time:  cleaning the house, doing laundry.  I walk to Sentry to buy the ingredients for an appetizer.  It's a cold, blustery day, and my face is nearly frozen when I return.  Chuck and Barb, Larry and Martha join us for dinner, a very relaxing, cozy evening.  The one low point:  my sister's contribution to the conversation about nicknames.  Am I being overly sensitive or are certain embarrassing family-related flashes from the past truly inappropriate?

On This Day in History, January 26, 1945

Carl Nelson and Marion Luthgren were married at Zion Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois.

Downtown East Chicago in the 1940s (Postcard)

From Historic Structures of East Chicago

January 25, 1991

Maybe I shouldn't be so cavalier about deleting no longer or little used computer files, I grumble to  myself as I search a file cabinet for a paper copy of the original request for cleaning services at the library.  I waste an hour putzing around, but by the early afternoon I have completed the first draft of a very acceptable revision.  During the rest of the afternoon, I move the card catalog over the computer and electrical outlets.  Now Liz and I have an unobstructed view of the computer carrels, which I don't think we need to move any closer to the information desk.

After work, I drive to Cub Foods to buy wine and beer.  I spend the evening making eggplant parmesan.

The Superlative 1960 Chevrolet

Pre-WWII Downtown Dayton, Ohio (Postcard)

Hotel Biltmore.

• Constructed in 1929.
• Designed by architect Frederick Hughes in the Beaux-Arts style.
• Redeveloped in 1981 to provide housing for the elderly.

Photo credit:  Wikipedia

January 24, 1991

The good news is that Geac is back up.  Andy Oie agrees to set up a CD-ROM multi-disc station.  The bad news is that Mark is sick, and I waste an afternoon re-organizing software.

I hesitate to attend a Chuck Chvala fundraiser, but a last-minute phone call to JoAnna convinces me that the drive into Madison is well worth the effort.  I arrive earlier than anyone else I know, but by the time I see lots of familiar faces I'm feeling claustrophobic.  JoAnna wants to stay so I volunteer to pick up Andy at daycare.  We stop at the library for two reasons:  to get videos for Andy and to see if Deb and Pat need a hand.  Before leaving, I shoo a friend of Tom's out of the staff workroom.

Later in the evening, I take Andy grocery shopping.

Downtown Jacksonville, Florida (Downtown)

Downtown Jacksonville in the mid-1950s.

LINK

CDCs help revitalize area north of downtown Jacksonville. (Florida Times-Union, 3/14/2010)

January 23, 1991

Wake up to a new video.  Keep up as best I can but wonder when the movements will be seamless.  No matter what the push, most of the time I think I'm in pretty good shapes, even if I don't bicycle or cross-country ski anymore.

On my way to a SCLS Finance & Governance meeting, I stop at Scott's to buy treats -- splurging when I ask for two dozen donuts -- and make the extra effort to drive to Sentry for orange juice.  During the meeting, Madison Public Library Director Peter Niemi is not nearly as obstreperous as I would have predicted.  The group makes lot of progress, which doesn't mean it still can't be all for naught.

During the early afternoon, Peter Hamon, Julie Chase, and I discuss the specifics of the clearinghouse arrangement.  The more I think about this change in resource sharing, the less enamored I become of it.

To clear my head, I drive to Hilldale to purchase orange and green hi-liters at University Bookstore.  The nerd in me is ready to cream his jeans.

When I get home, JoAnna tells me we need milk.

January 22, 1991

wtf

It's my morning off, JoAnna's first day back at work.  Andy must sense the change; he offers no resistance to the resumption of the old workaway routine. 

Eager to tackle some errands, I leave the house nearly two hours before my expected arrival at the library. 

Paul 1, Perry 0.

I drive to West Towne, shop for shirts and a scarf at Sears.  I charge my purchases, experiencing the plastic buzz I'm so familiar with, then continue the feeling at Waldenbooks.  I pay cash for Maniac Cop at Suncoast Video.  The Purple Rose of Cairo is no longer in stock.

Before my shopping spree, Barb hits me over the head with a verbal hammer.  Dale was busted for cocaine last spring outside of Buffalo.  It's new to me.  Mom and Dad haven't breathed a word. 

"I just can't figure out how after all these years, Dale still thinks he's invincible," I comment.

I also wonder how come she's so knowledgable about the location of Dale's beer and pot and cocaine.

January 21, 1991

The alarm goes off at 6:00, but I'm not quite as quick to throw off the covers as I expected to be.  Nevertheless, I still get to work shortly after 7:00.  My Monday game plan is to hit the ground running.  In one way I'm successful in reaching my goal, but by the late afternoon I'm wearing out a path between my office and the typewriter in the staff workroom.  Damn DLS annual reports.  It's so frustrating not to have at hand the statistics I need.

I return home in time for supper.  JoAnna's been doing some great meal planning, but it's only a matter of days until she throws it into my lap and all hell breaks loose.  Maybe a scheduled divided among the three adults in the household is in order.

JoAnna's basketball game is postponed so we have a stay-at-home evening.

January 20, 1991

My head hurts a little bit when I wake up.  That's what happens when the sloshes around on a mostly empty stomach.

I spent a large portion of the day taping Motown music.  I actually finish the project.

We watch the Bills clobber the Raiders and the Giants squeak by the 49ers.

Eddie is such a mellow little angel during the late afternoon.  It's a much different story after supper.

January 19, 1991

I'm up early.  I can't sleep much past 4:00 and decide to get up and do something at 5:00.  I resume the Motown taping.

We leave for Kenosha shortly after 10:00.  Barb stays in Middleton, as I expected she would.  Eddie sleeps during the entire trip, and Andy is content to spend most of the road trip with his books.  He is an extremely good traveler.

Larry and Alice arrive more than an hour after us.  We spend a very sedentary afternoon together, sitting around the living room, watching TV, and talking and admiring the babies.  Christie looks to be about half Eddie's size, but she has ten times as much hair.  We enjoy wine and a late afternoon dinner before our return trip to Middleton.  

January 18, 1991

I have more of an incentive to get it in gear this morning:  a 9:30 meeting at the South Central Library System administrative office.  Still, it does take a struggle.  JoAnna, looking as though she has seriously questioned the need to get out of bed, helps me out by getting Andy dressed.

The Resource Contract Committee is productive.  At the conclusion of the meeting, which extends past noon, we have identified all the necessary elements of what will be more than one contract.

On the way to Middleton, I stop on State Street for a recording that includes hard-to-find songs by Martha & the Vandellas and the Marvelettes:  "Come and Get These Memories, "Quicksand", "Playboy", "Beechwood 4-5789.  Nevertheless, I resume the Motown that evening, after a very enjoyable staff get-together at Sheila and Bruce's house.  The pot-luck arrangement results in an abundance of food, which I sample sparingly.

January 17, 1991

It seems I'm slipping back into my vacation schedule despite my best intentions to focus on the library.  JoAnna's still home, and she enjoys sleeping in, which leaves it to me to get Andy out of bed, dressed, fed, and chauffeured to daycare.  This morning found me as far behind since Eddie was born.  I even call the library to let staff know I'll be at least an hour late.

After work I pick up the Nissan at Dunn's.  After its two weeks of dead time in the driveway, how sweet it is to drive the car again.  It runs beautifully.

For a second day in a row, JoAnna prepares a delicious supper and the four of us -- Barb, Andy, JoAnna, and me (Eddie is sleeping) -- sit down at the dining room table to enjoy it, with war news in the background.

I complete by taping of the Atlantic Rhythm and Blues anthology.  I'm so intent on this project I basically tune everyone else out.

Keith's Magazine on Home Building: Having Individual Character

January 16, 1991

 I wait around the house for the car to be towed.  Didn't really have to, as it turns out.

The poor quality of the cleaning service takes up the majority of my time at the library.  I composes a four-page letter to Don Gibson, owner of D & M Maintenance.  

Sharon gives me a ride home, and I drive the van to Kids Play to pick up Andy since Jo's in the middle of fixing supper.  I notice a disturbing announcement posted on the Puffin Room door:  a case of scarlet fever has been verified.  

After Jo's wonderful supper -- though I do complain that the spaghetti squash is slightly undercooked -- I listen to the war reports on CNN..  (Except for a map of the Middle East, there is no video.)  Feeling extremely tired due to lack of sleep, I turn in early, before 9.  I have to ask JoAnna to take a crying Eddie to another room to settle him down.  I sleep all night.

January 15, 1991

I volunteer to take Andy to day care since I need to buy a car battery.  Russ Darrow has only low-maintenance batteries in stock, which means I'm not going to be able to do the easy switch as planned.  The Stanza will need to be towed.  Grr, grumble, grumble.

For a change of pace, I walk to the library but not home for supper.  PDQ food tides me over until I get home at 9:30.

I have trouble falling asleep.  I guess I'm just waiting for my turn with Eddie, and when Jo's done feeding him at 2 a.m., I'm more than happy to take over.  While taping the Lovin' Spoonful, I stare at Eddie's angelic face, his expressive eyes, the "o" he makes with his mouth.  He's such great company.  He fusses momentarily before falling asleep, his head on my shoulder.

Keith's Magazine on Home Building: Good Old English Style

The style lives on.

January 14, 1991

It's after 11 by the time we leave Two Rivers.  JoAnna doesn't offer to drive, and I make no fuss.  The boys sleep, she reads, and I let my mind wander over an expanse of brain-cell terrain while cruising along Interstate 43 to Milwaukee.  We visit the Broydrick office -- only Jeannie and Moira are there -- and eat lunch at a nearby arcade.  By the time we get to the airport, we have a 45-minute wait before Barb deplanes.  So begins a new and what portends to be a much different life in Middleton.

January 13, 1991

I'd've much preferred to stay at home but no way was I going to bomb JoAnna's weekend mission:  A trip to Two Rivers.  Grandma Weier had a slight stroke a couple of weeks ago, and JoAnna is determined to see her and show off Eddie while her nearly 90-year-old paternal grandmother is still lucid.

We left the house at 9:00 and made stops for donuts and coffee before proceeding with the road trip.  Eddie slept the entire time, and Andy dozed off during the last half hour.  The radio -- oldies first and then football -- kept us company.  Fortunately, the day was set up so we didn't have to make the rounds.  We were able to stay put once we arrived.

Vacationland, Michigan

From a 1955 issue of National Geographic.

LINK

1955 Chevrolet: Blue-ribbon beauty that's stealing the thunder from the high-priced cars!

January 12, 1991

Originally, I had thought, "Oh, great, a day off.  Now I'll have a chance to read like I did during Christmas vacation."  So what happened?  The family went out to eat during the morning, trying out a new restaurant, the Coppertop, located just off Whitney Way and the Beltline.  It's Eddie's first meal away from home, one that he sleeps through.

During the afternoon, JoAnna and I rearrange the guest room and I take the dead battery out of the Nissan and unsuccessfully attempt to replace it.  I stop at the library to check out the Motown CDs that have arrived in delivery.  I don't see the early, more obscure songs I'm looking for, the ones that will allow me to resume taping.

During the evening, JoAnna and I play two games of Casino before going to bed.  We split.

January 11, 1991

I take advantage of the snooze alarm and the radio's barely audible volume.

"Paul, it's 7:15," JoAnna announces.

By the time I get out bed, it's took late to do my exercises, and by the time I get Andy dressed, it's too late for breakfast.  On the way to my meeting at the South Central Library System office, I stop at McDonald's for a drive-through breakfast.

At first, the discussion of the resource library contract is too abstract for me.  Undoubtedly puzzles and perhaps concerned by my lack of participation, Peter Hamon puts me on the spot.  It just takes me awhile to warm up.  By 11:30 I have an opinion about everything.

On the way back to Middleton, I drop off Julie Chase at the Madison Public Library, negotiating streets made slick by a light but steady snowfall.

I didn't tell anyone at the meeting about my morning scare.  JoAnna is changing Eddie's diaper.  Andy is sitting on one end of the changing table.  I'm in the bedroom dressing.  Suddenly I hear a crash and JoAnna exclaiming, "Oh, no!"  I dash into Eddie's bedroom.  Andy and Eddie are crying and the top of the changing table is hanging at an angle.  Fortunately, no one is hurt, but the possibility of injury still makes me shudder.

I keep busy for the two hours I'm at the library.  With so many meetings lately and a busy home front, I feel as though I'm falling behind, especially as far as ETN presentations are going.  Once my sister Barb is here, I may be able to work more long days than usual.

The early evening was spent in the family room, Andy monopolizing the VCR.  The later evening, same location, but just Eddie and me.  It took a lot of patience and two cuddling efforts to get him to fall asleep soundly.

January 10, 1991

Billboard top 10 for week of January 5-11, 1991

Since Chris is on funeral leave this week, I attend the SCROLL meeting in her place.  The Monona location makes it convenient for me to drop off Andy at daycare.  The meeting itself is routine and surprisingly short.  Stop at Pic-a-Book to buy the latest issues of Variety and Billboard as well as a couple of newspapers, and at Shopko to stock up on white socks.  I eat lunch at home and then spend a progressively less productive afternoon at the library.  A mild headache, stationed just behind my eyebrows, leaves me feeling disoriented.  JoAnna has a great supper prepared when Andy and I return home.  After the dishes are washed and I'm sacking out on the couch, Andy produces two oranges, and the idea of helping him eat them suddenly becomes very appetizing.  Later on, JoAnna takes Eddie duty.  He needs an hour of holding, walking, and rocking nowadays to fall asleep.   It's exhausting, but at least it provides me with additional time for taping music.

January 9, 1991

Andy needs a ride to day care.   This is the thought riffing in my brain when I wake up.  I'm also thinking a flatter tummy and reduced love handles, which gets me out of bed and into my exercise uniform.

JoAnna has supper ready when Andy and I return home, but it's not what I expect.  She says the chicken didn't thaw.  "Aw!"  The frozen chicken Parmesan on noodles is a fine substitute.

January 8, 1991

A long day.  I leave the house at 9:10, which results in my being a couple of minutes late for the Advisory Committee meeting at the library system office.  The 16mm films agenda item is thoroughly and at times heatedly discussed.  Naturally, I have to put in my two cents.  My flushed face tells me that maybe I oversold my point, but after the meeting Barb Huntington expressed her appreciation for my outburst. 

I eat lunch at home, walk to the library, and get ready for the board meeting.  The long-range planning discussion will need some ingredients to spice things up for board members.  I worry about getting back to the information desk on what appears to be a busy evening, so I don't attempt to force or prolong the discussion.  I stay in my office late, catching up on odds and ends and wondering why the carpet looks so speckly?  Has anyone seen a vacuum cleaner?

January 7, 1991

I get to the library early, shortly after 7. I'm only working a half day so I attempt to pack in as much as I can in four hours.

The rest of the day is devoted to child care since JoAnna attends the inauguration activities. It seems as though I spend most of my time changing Eddie. He must have wet a diaper at least once an hour. Andy doesn't take a nap do I have no time to myself.

JoAnna makes a brief appearance before going to the inaugural ball, which gives her a chance to nurse Eddie. By that time, he has finished what JoAnna had pumped.

Around 10, Eddie starts to get fussy. He's getting to be like clockwork in this regard. 45 minutes later he nods off. Despite the lack of a nap, Andy's still up at this time. Within 15 minutes, though, he falls asleep but Eddie starts fussing again. I get up but see through the window blinds the van's headlights approach the garage.

January 6, 1991

The beat goes on.

At least the beat in my boom box.  I keep recording at the rate of two to three blank tapes per week.  Get into 1961.  Finished up the British Invasion, a sure fave for months to come.  Indulged in the guilty pleasures of Bread. 

"Do you like bread?" JoAnna asked me, almost accusingly, halfway through "Diary".

"Oh, they're all right," Mr. Rock-and-Roll responds.



Eddie goes on his first shopping trip with the family...to Kohl's and Shopko.  I buy a new desk lamp and a couple of exercise tapes. 

After supper, the evening is spent sacked out in the family room, glued to the TV

January 5, 1991

A five-inch snowfall postpones our trip to Two Rivers.  I stop at the library to shovel the entrance and sidewalk.  Where is Public Works?  Guess I'll find out on Monday.  In the meantime, I earned my comp time for Monday afternoon.  The exercise was not just for my health. 

Before returning home, I go grocery shopping.  While JoAnna is at basketball practice, I play with Eddie.  He's so alert and pleasant for about an hour.  During the afternoon, I sack out on the long couch in the family room and nap for an hour, read the rest of the time.  Andy wakes up from his nap and then falls back asleep on top of me.  It's moments like these that make it feel so special to be a father. 

Later in the afternoon, I try to start the Nissan but get no response.  I continue to lounge through the evening.

January 4, 1991

With less prodding than usual, Andy gets out of bed.  He wants breakfast just as I'm ready to get him into the van . 

"Andy, you can have a bag of Cherrios, but you don't have enough time to sit down and eat a bowl of cereal." 

I arrive at the library at a few minutes before 9 and leave shortly after 3 so I can run some errands:  cashing my check,  buying a 1991 desk diary (which I hope that I will start using on a regular basis), searching unsuccessfully for a CD copy of Leon Russell's Carney. 

I pick up Andy and he's a regular chatterbox on the drive home.  We talk about buying ice skates and all the sports that he and Eddie are going to play together in a few years. 

January 3, 1991

I wake up shortly before six, feeling surprisingly rested, my hint of a sore throat remaining only that.  Even though I don't have to drive Andy to daycare, I arrive at work at 9.  I work on the board report and complete the fiction book order for January.  The Area Leaders meeting is short, more of a preview of what we'll be discussing for the next few months. 

I take a break during the morning to deliver the van to Russ Darrow for a tune-up.  JoAnna and the boys follow me in the car.  The cost to replace the side view mirror will be in the neighborhood of $150.  I groan to myself on the drive home after picking up the van.  I also pick up a pizza at Pizza Hut.  Also M&M's at PDQ for dessert. 

It's been a very uneventful, strangely unfulfilling evening.  Let's play golf, let's play football, let's play basketball.  Andy is always ready with a new activity, Dad with an excuse to sack out on the couch.  We engage in some momentary horseplay.  Now that Eddie provides some competition, Andy is so eager for my attention.  He's still my Pumpkin Guy.

January 2, 1991

The radio wakes me up at 6, but I turn down the volume and operate on my own snooze alarm.  It's a cold morning and I'm in no hurry to throw off the covers.  Andy takes a few dozen nudges to wake up.  He eats a bowl of Cherrios before we leave.  On the drive to daycare, Andy stutters as much as he talks.  I make a mental note to ask JoAnna about this. 

First thing I do at the library, after hanging up my beautiful new leather jacket, of course, is to make a pot of coffee.  I go through my mail, attempt to organize my desk, and continue to add to the classic paperbacks order.  With a light snow falling, I opt to drive instead of walk home for lunch, which I fix myself, but JoAnna has supper just about ready when Andy and I get home.  Eddie has another pretty rough night, but I tune out the fussing.

January 1, 1991

We bring in the New Year quietly, remaining at home for the entire day.  The only time I venture outside is to retrieve the newspapers. 

I become absorbed by the book I'm reading, Friday Night Lights, although an Alfred Hitchcock festival on WGN competes for my attention.  JoAnna tunes in the Orange Bowl, but we both quickly lose interest in the game.

Eddie gets his first bath, recorded on video for grandma and grandpa.  The four of us lounge in bed for awhile, Eddie wide-eyed and angel-faced, pumping his little arms and legs every now and then, Andy requesting that I put my book down and read Mother Goose rhymes to him. 

Such a wonderful family.  Now I don't want to stop at two.  I want more children.