What a delicious song this is!http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHU71EsH0dU
Month: August 2015
Spending Time with a Three Year Old
After spending one day with a twelve year old grandson and another day with a ten year old granddaughter how hard could it be to hang out for an hour with a three year old? At Walmart? In the toy section?
It was an hour of bargaining and logic.
Me: Harper, I need to go to Walmart to buy cat litter and milk.
Harper: And toys Nana?
Me: Nope; just milk and cat litter (at this point both the older siblings elected to stay home).
Harper: OK, Nana.
In the car:
Harper: Nana, play Uptown Funk.
Me: I don’t have Uptown Funk.
Harper: Yes, you do.
Me: No I don’t, but let’s see if we can find a radio station that’s playing Uptown Funk.
(Believe it or not it was playing on one of the first stations I tuned into on Sirius.)
Harper: See, Nana! I told you that you have Uptown Funk.
Me: Yes, you did. (Sigh)
At Walmart:
Harper: Can I get a toy Nana?
Me: You really don’t need a toy sweetie.
Harper: Can I just look at toys.
Me: Let’s put you in the shopping cart and go find the cat litter.
Harper: If I ride in the cart can I have a toy?
Me: (At this point I know I’m buying the kid a toy, but I’m not ready to concede just yet) Let’s find the things we need and we’ll talk about it.
Harper: (At this point the kid knows she’s getting a toy, but she plays it cool.) Ok, Nana!
We found the cat litter and were on our way to the dairy section when it occurred to me that it might take Harper more than a few minutes to pick out a toy and that it would be better to take care of that before going to buy milk.
When we got to the toy department I helped Harper out of the cart and she headed immediately to toys from the movie, Frozen, and found a package containing a Barbie-sized Elsa and Ana as well as Olaf, the snowman and Sven, the reindeer. Her eyes lit up.
Harper: Can I have this Nana? I won’t ever need any more toys!
Now, how could I resist that? Without complaining she let me put her back in the cart and we picked up milk and a few more goodies. The whole time Harper kept up a running commentary about her new toys.
Harper: Nana, do you think Sven can talk? I think Sven can talk because he’s a reindeer. Nana, what’s a reindeer? Is Olaf a real snowman? Do you like Elsa or Ana best? Will you play with my toys when we get home? Do you have scissors in your car because we need scissors to open this package. I think Sven can talk. Is he a real reindeer?
Me: Maybe I need some Advil.
Harper: Nana, do you need a band-aid?
Me: Maybe. Will a band-aid make my head stop hurting?
Harper: Yes, Nana.
In the car:
Harper: Play Uptown Funk.
At the Quad Cities Family Entertainment Center later that day:
Apparently band-aids help with headaches.
When You Gotta Go…
I let my 12 year old grandson help write my blog post for today. He picked out this meme:
I picked out this one:
Both are fitting for the start of my long journey home, because this
Is so very true.
It’s been such a fun week with the grandkids. We went bowling, played laser tag, and video games, feasted on junk foods, and acted out scenes from Frozen until I had ice shards shooting out of my nose.
My plan is to reach the southeast side of Nashville on Monday afternoon and maybe relax in the pool for a few minutes. A bit of relaxation might be in order after all the fun. I’ll miss these guys, but Studly Doright is ready to see me.
Grand Children
How wonderful are
the children of my children?
They are grand, indeed.
Smart, sweet, and sassy;
loving, amusing, and kind.
Cute beyond belief.
I’d tell everyone
that the kids take after me,
but I’d be lying.
Spending Time with a Ten Year Old Girl
My middle grandchild, McKayla, and I drove all over the Quad Cities yesterday. We picked up her new glasses in Moline, Illinois, ate lunch and painted pottery in Bettendorf, Iowa, shopped for vintage (her word) stuff in Port Byron and Rapids City, Illinois, and enjoyed ice cream in Davenport, Iowa, I think. Thank goodness for GPS!
I was so confused by the time we returned home that I needed a nap. She on the other hand was energized with the prospect of decorating the interior of the vintage dollhouse we found at Birdie Lu’s in Rapids City.
Shopping with McKayla is an adventure. At ten, she knows exactly what she wants and already has a style of her own. Everywhere we went she received compliments on her hair or her dress or her jacket. I’m 58. I’m still trying to develop a signature style beyond jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. And compliments are few and far between.
At the same time, she still enjoys her Barbies and doll houses and pretend play. At least we have those things in common. We also share similar tastes in music; although, she actually knows all the words to the songs playing on the radio; whereas, I am reduced to humming and mumbling the lyrics.
I don’t embarrass her yet, even though I count that as an important part of Grandparenting. No matter how hard I tried I didn’t even rate an eye roll. Maybe I’ve lost the skill.
At the end of our expedition McKayla gave me a huge hug and thanked me for giving her an amazing day. It was pretty amazing to me, as well. It isn’t often that someone as clueless as I am has the chance to hang out with pure awesomeness.
Spending Time with a Twelve Year Old Boy
I’m in the Quad Cities, an area that straddles the Mississippi River on both sides of the Illinois-Iowa state lines, visiting my daughter and her family this week. On this trip I thought it would be fun to spend a day one on one with each of the two older grandchildren. Garrett, my oldest grandson, had his day today.
Garrett is 12 and for his day he chose to see the movie Ant-Man, eat a cheeseburger at Red Robin, and shop for Legos. Then I gently persuaded him to let me buy him some jeans. Ok, I bribed him with the promise of an ice cream on our way home, but it worked.
The kid has hit a huge growth spurt this summer, and all of his pants look more like ladies’ capris. It’s not a good look on a 12-year-old boy whose voice is deeper than most grown men’s, but he’s fairly oblivious to style do’s and dont’s.
Over lunch it occurred to me that this funny, handsome, geeky kid probably will have no interest in a date with his Nana next summer. I’ll lose him to his guy friends soon, and he’ll be swooning over some girl before long.
But on this trip he told me about the video games he’s into and his plans to design games himself some day. We giggled over Antman’s antics and pecan praline ice cream. We argued over the virtues of Star Wars versus Minecraft Legos. On this trip he was still a little boy.
Cooking for Studly: July Update
As July 2015 fades into history I must confess that I have faded as a cook this month, as well. I’ve relied heavily on frozen entrees these past 31 days, blaming my lapses in the kitchen on a number of worthy excuses:
- Time spent working in Studly Doright’s shop
- Oppressive heat
- Menopause
- Humidity
- Blogging
- Travel
- Cat videos
- Politics
- Sinus issues
I’m running out of excuses, and once I return home from visiting my daughter in Illinois I’ll need to either start cooking again or come up with some better evasive tactics. I’m open to suggestions.
Peace, people!
Praying for Eyebrowz 