Parenting with the Kennedys

Posted by Kelly Weber · December 22, 2015

The Christmas Day Priority Mail 2-Day shipping deadline has officially passed in all United States time zones!

Hopefully, you have successfully sent out all gifts to your loved ones around the country!

It is so exciting to receive gifts at your door during the holidays and it is comforting to know that somebody thought of you this holiday, no matter how small or large the Christmas gesture!

Last night, I made two trips to the central Phoenix post office; immediately after workouts at 6:30pm, and another right before closing time at 9:30pm.

It is so great that they keep one post office open so late in this Southwestern town!

Every time I vist the post office I feel as though I am taken back in time. Although the United States Post Office has evolved technologically, there is still a part of it that will retain old American history and the dream of expansion through communication.

If any of you all remember playing The Oregon Trail or the Yukon Trail in grade school, then you will understand the importance of the posts in the small towns along the way. The post office kept small growing towns alive. Without the post office, America would not be as amazing and expansive as it is today.

Well, fortunately for us, we don't have to wait weeks or months to get supplies or gifts from our loved ones. It is incredible that it only takes an average of two days to get something across the country and to a very specific door. Americans now even have robots working at the post office! Self-service stations aka "robots" are extremely beneficial and help move the postal line along much faster. In my first trip to the post office tonight I used the robotic system. It was helpful and easy to use; however, I enjoyed my second trip much better because there is truly nothing better than face to face communication!

Although I only had one package to ship in the second round, I only had cash to ship it. The United States Post Office "robots" do not accept cash yet in Arizona. I knew how long the line was to send my package the old fashioned way from my previous trip, so I brought my packing materials with me...

Scissors, tape, shiny wrapping paper, the gifts, and a old box...

I sat on the floor in the back of the line and started wrapping gifts. I was immediately and very kindly offered help with wrapping my box by a beautiful stranger.

I gladly accepted the help because wrapping gifts left handed is difficult by yourself. As my new found friend and I were wrapping the gifts, another woman leaving the post office commented how she loved how we were working down to the last wire!

Teamwork makes the dream work & every last minute counts.

As the woman leaving walked out, another woman walked in carrying a large tote full of goodies to send out! We assured the newcomer that the line was moving fast. Somehow, when you get three ladies together it becomes a party...even if you are perfect strangers!

As I wrapped gifts for a loved one with a perfect stranger, we welcomed another perfect stranger into our conversation. It was a good moment. The newcomer told us that she was sending out everything glamorous and glitzy! She ran an online skin care company along with a couple other websites. She joked about my scissors protecting us against this grumpy man, in the back of the line, in the case he went "postal".

We all laughed. He was upset that the Post Office Boxes were not big enough to fit his packages. He claimed that the whole point of having a post office box was that you could access your mail and packages at any time. I understood where he was coming from. Apparently he only comes into town occasionally because he works on the road non-stop and probably lives in a different hotel every night; what a life. Hopefully soon they can make robotic package retriever to work the hours when nobody else wants to.

My two new friends and I waited in that line for an hour and a half, but the time flew by. We talked about family and work. I told them about Little Teether. One of the women excitedly remembered the first picture in which she believes to have inspired the chewable teething necklaces that we now design at Little Teether!

The woman mentioned how she will never forget the photos of the Kennedy family; especially the one with the baby and pearls. We fell in love with the photos of the young Kennedy family and thought that we would share them with you.

I am dedicating this post to my new friends made at the United States Post Office last night. Thank you for expanding my mind and for sharing a memory of your childhood. It is awesome that in seconds I can relieve the moments that gave you joy growing up a few generations before me. Technology has definitely changed the world and the way we communicated, but in a lot of ways it has truly helped us remember some of the most golden ages of our country.

Thank you to the many devoted historians and collectors who have compiled these beautiful photos that give us insight into the joys of parenthood from another era.