Today's Bright Spot ~ A Child's View

Sitting on my lap, my precious girl faced me working to find what I could not on my cell phone. The party was winding down and the room was quieter. 

Great grandma:  “I must be a pretty poor grandma to not be able to find Peppa Pig on my phone.

Without hesitation:

Three Year old: “No you’re not.”

“Nothing you do for children is ever wasted.”

~ Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home

On an Early Evening Walk - A Family Walk

A four year old on a scooter 

    ~ wheels with coloured lights 

A one year old in a stroller 

    ~ great grandma at the helm.

Mom and dad holding hands 

    with grandpa at their side

A stop to ride the swings 

    ~ and slide the slide

Clear sky, no wind, setting sun 

    ~ walkin’ off a delicious meal and the energy of children.

“Being a family means you are part of something very wonderful. 

It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.”

~ Lisa Weedn, designer and artist

T-Rex Rocks

Don’t remember the last time I was in the Museum of Natural History - decades? When I was a kid ~ or maybe when my kids were kids? One of those two. Back in Regina for just over two years, the dust of moving almost settled, I am beginning to investigate more than coffee shops or restaurants. T-Rex was my first solo stop. He lords it over the first floor of the museum, even has his very own room. I suppose he is rather big to be sharing a space. I could almost hear him roar!

A recent visit with my very busy, curious three year old great-granddaughter was really the impetus. Where do you take kids for a good time besides the ice-cream store? To see bones and relics that feed their natural curiosity. Then it’s time for ice-cream.

“Tyrannosaurus was truly the Schwarzenegger of dinosaurs.”

~ Kenneth Carpenter

(from kidadl.com)

Counting, Bubbles and Lessons

 While new baby sister slept there were lessons big sister had to teach great-grandma about fun:

1. If you throw cards ‘up to the sky’ - it’s fun to watch them fly all around even if you’re in the house.
2. If your hands get dirty outside - use the bubble water to wash your hands ~ and the slide.
3. Always pop the bubbles even if they are on great grandma’s hair.
4. Always be scared of earthworms - they might be snails.
5. When counting sidewalk stones, make sure great-grandma follows you and counts too.
6. When you get tired of counting the sidewalk stones - ‘let’s count the grass’ in really big steps.
7. Always smell the bubble water - it’s yukky - but maybe it tastes better. (It was yukky too and great grandma told me NO!)

I’m pretty sure I missed something, but I had to go home. I really needed a break!

“Childhood’s work is learning, and it is 

in his play…that the child works at his job.”

~ Caroline Pratt, I Learn from Children

I'm Serious Too!

I seldom have meaningful conversations with two year olds. Tonight was no different. There was discussion about colours, numbers, listening to sing-song-y songs, cutting up apples, getting more orange juice, mom and dad encouraging her to eat her supper and so on and so forth. I don’t really remember what issue brought a burst of laughter from mom, dad and great-grandmother (better known as grandma). I mean real genuine laughter. All I know is that I looked sternly at said two year old and said in my best ‘great grandmotherly voice’: “I’m serious!” Without missing a beat, her best two year old little voice said: “I’m serious too!” We just all broke up ~ well, not all of us ~ Miss Two Year Old continued playing.

“The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe.”

~ Lawrence Kutner

Being a Great Granddaughter

Being a great granddaughter is an exciting responsibility ~

Eating all the apples in the bowl, bananas as fast as I can (I only got one!) and two cookies (even though I asked for more).

Watching and dancing to Elmo

Examining everything that remotely looks like fun - 

fridge magnets (the ones I could reach), 

funnels from one of the kitchen cupboards

wiping up water when I accidentally spilled the cat's water - great grandma gave me a towel.

Dancing even when there isn’t any music

Making sure to play with all the toys from my own cupboard

and kissing the cat 

Trying out the rocking chair a bunch of times - I'm not real good at rocking yet.

Learning how to scribble on a big board with a marker

Putting most of everything away when my mom picked me up. 

It was a busy day keeping great grandma entertained.

“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,  The Little Prince

Baptized in Milk

A soft, sweet and milky burp slid into the black of my sweater and spilled onto the fresh clean of a baby onesie.

Baby and great-grandmother shoulders baptized in baby sweetness and love.

Now that's progress!

“A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother.”

~ Mark Twain