Chapter 5 Summary

Chapter 5. Father's mother, Grandmother Patience, comes to live with the family because she has grown too old to live on her own. Grandmother Patience is an unpleasant woman who does not like children or her son's wife. Upon her arrival, Grandmother Patience begins making waves when she refuses to sleep in the sewing room. Grandmother Patience insists on sleeping in May Amelia and Wilbert's room. Grandmother Patience also suggests that May Amelia is too old to be sleeping with her brother. However, Mother stands up for the children and simply has them switch rooms with Grandmother Patience.

Grandmother Patience has a cane that she often strikes out with when she is angry. One day she hits May Amelia on the shoulder for refusing to do her mending immediately. Wilbert gives her cane to the dog, but Grandmother Patience gets another made of a...