coming out of my shell

coming out of my shell

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Grandma gets tired

I picked up my 6 year old grandson from school yesterday. My daughter asked me to take him to the mall to buy plastic animals for a diorama he was making. I'm an amiable sort. I said,"Sure!" O wa ta foo lie am!

Picking N up involves parking 2 blocks from school and walking to get him. Walking back involves dodging rotten older boys on bikes and getting N to keep moving. He's inclined to stop every few steps and pick something up to stick in his pocket, or pluck flowering weeds to make a bouquet for me. He also has a mania for collecting rocks. It was raining, so he had the pleasure of wielding his own umbrella, too. No one was safe.

Halfway to the mall he decided we must play the alphabet game. This involves each of us taking turns finding the next letter of the alphabet on a passing road sign. Try dodging traffic with children's music blaring and a kid screaming "It's your turn, Grandma, find a Z!"


We went to a craft store that sells plastic animals. He was enthralled by the children's aisles, and each step was a negotiation. He knows Grandma is a sucker. He kept disappearing behind stacks of toys, only to emerge with something in hand. Then I had to wrestle him to put those things back.

I agreed to buy one kit for him to bring home. He chose an unfinished wooden train set with acrylic paint and stickers. Yes, acrylic. I didn't realize that when I bought it. I assumed any child's kit would be washable paint. Wrong. Note to self, always read the box, especially when your daughter buys her son expensive designer t-shirts. 

At check-out he announced with the cutest damn smile, "Do I look different?" Well, that's code for "I have something in my pocket you don't know about." We retraced our steps to put it back when we saw a blank puzzle board where a brilliant child could design their own puzzle with markers. I really HAD to get that. When we finally made it to the cashier he yanked a wet umbrella out of the cart. Before I could yell "Stop!" he punched the button to open it in the store. Water spurted everywhere. 

One of reasons I buy him toys he doesn't need is that he will play quietly with them in the car on the way home from the mall. 

At home I collapsed, picked up my iPad and played solitaire at a manic pace. Grandpa took N to the lanai to paint. N kept yelling for me to come out and paint with them. I played solitaire all that much faster, yelling back "Grandma needs to rest, honey." When I forced myself to go and see what transpired, he was already covered with paint. What did I care?

After a much needed shower, he dove right into the puzzle. That would have been fine, except he became bored and decide to turn the puzzle over and draw on the back, too. I tried to stop him. I shrieked "No, don't do that! You'll never know what pieces go with which side!!!" He didn't believe me. I looked the other way and played solitaire with great vigor while he finished.  


I love this kid






26 comments:

  1. Soon enough he'll be a teenager and you'll long for these days! At least his train turned out really well. Maybe he can tell the puzzle sides apart by color scheme? Or is that wishful thinking? :)

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    1. Wishful thinking. Both sides are similar in style. I thought the train looked pretty good, too. And yes, I will miss this wild little boy like crazy when he grows up to be a young man. He is one of my biggest joys.

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  2. Children are an astounding force of nature! No wonder it takes a village to raise children. No wonder Grandmas need time out (-:

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    1. I'm starting to feel my age.

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    2. So true. We are still in the adolescence of old age, no longer middle-aged. Although I don't have children, much less grandchildren, and the complications of a nearly 20-year estrangement from my youngest sister have blocked me from spending time with my only nephew (age 25) and his 4-year-old son, it is only in this past year that I am feeling my age.

      Seeing the Parkland Students and remembering what it felt like to be that age in the 1960s caused it to dawn on me this morning that in 1967, when I was 17 years old, the people who were 68 years old then were born in 1899! They were 20 years older than my grandparents, who were both gone by 1957. When I was 17 years old, I was fairly oblivious to anyone 68 years old and older, unless they were well-known, like Alfred Hitchcock, whom I found to be deeply disturbing. I didn't relate to older people at all, having not known my own grandparents and not having older people present in my life.

      During these older years, I am fortunate to be able to spend time with people of all ages and, yes, I am very aware of the limits to my energy (-:

      I love the comment below from the fellow grandmother who saw what a wonderful day you had!

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    3. I'm sorry to hear you have been estranged from your sister for many years.

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  3. At least he's not with you 24/7. Kids suck energy out of adults like the remote sucks energy from those AA batteries.

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  4. So funny. There is a reason we had our children when we were young and had more energy (and patience). Someday this will be a pleasant memory. Trust me.

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    1. It is already a pleasant memory. I adore him. I just wish I could keep up with him.

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  5. Keep track of those days, they fly by you too fast. So what if they are a challenge. We are made for this!

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    1. It is already going by too fast. I feel so lucky to spend time with him.

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  6. I loved reading this! That's how we feel after babysitting the grandkids. And yes, we start playing solitaire right away at a manic pace. Adorable they are, and exhausting!

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    1. I like thinking of you as a grandmother, Robin. I bet you are really good at it.

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    2. I chose very early in life to never have children and stuck with it. Roger had three daughters when I met him. They were 18, 11, and 7 years old. Now the youngest is 36, and she and her husband have two kids. They live just a few miles from us, and we get to see them pretty often. I've been planning on writing a Thank You note to Elena (Roger's youngest) on Mother's Day for giving me an experience I never dreamed of having, being a Grandma and watching these little ones grow up. I love being a part of their lives.

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    3. I'm sure they love having you in their lives, too.

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  7. You are just one chapter ahead of me in life and this post scares the hell out of me : )

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    1. lol. It should! Actually, you love them so damn much none of this matters. And it makes for funny stories.

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  8. So we share solitaire as a therapy. As a means of shutting the world out, of making time pass more quickly, of obliterating age differences between us and almost every other living entity. The only wherewithal capable of ameliorating the stresses in a flight from Auckland (NZ) to Chicago (Ill) - 14 hours since you ask - and holding madness at bay. In the often times when computers were much slower I played it for speed and held a record of 98 seconds from first deal to the final seconds of the card cascade. Now this is not possible. Instead I become yin to solitaire's yang and, like Gemini, we take to the hills.

    This is a beautifully observed grandchild event. Expertly told, too. I'd have paid good money to have written, "It was raining, so he had the pleasure of wielding his own umbrella, too. No one was safe." The awareness that in splitting off those last four words as a separate sentence, would increase the impact and enhance the humour. Mes félicitations.

    Similarly, but in reverse: "He didn't believe me. I looked the other way and played solitaire with great vigour while he finished." It takes confidence to opt for the old-fashioned: "with great vigour". Sorry about the extra u in each case; it's just the way I was brung up.

    Your affection for N is ever apparent without your needing to say so.

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    1. Thanks. I spend a lot of time with him. In fact, helping raise our grandchildren is the reason we left New York State and moved to Florida. It has been deeply satisfying.

      I also used to play solitaire with the timed speed setting on. I had to change the setting because I became obsessive about it. Sure was fun, though.

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  9. Replies
    1. He really is. I have a hard time keeping up with him. He thinks I'm his playmate and expects me to run along side him.

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  10. OK, I have to go lay down now.....

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So, whadayathink?