I forgot to take Airborne and am suffering for it. I suspect that some horrid person on one of the 3 flights from France shared their germs with me. My head is pounding, my nose is running, sneezes erupt violently and a room-clearing cough explodes about every 30 seconds or so. Quite attractive.
I am annoyed and exhausted. I made it to the library for my volunteer shift this morning (lots of medication made it possible) but dragged myself back to the bus for the ride home. Not fun. France was definitely worth it but fie on that fellow passenger.
Wesley may have picked it up from me so, right now, I am keeping my distance.
When we are together Wesley and I are having fun. Because I was gone for several weeks he now will say, soon after we get home each afternoon, "You know, Gramma, what we haven't done in AGES?" Then he will list a book or puzzle or toy we haven't played with since I went to France. Yesterday it was 2 games - one with a white board and one with a jar of different size dice. He loves to hold a fistful of markers and make a big multi-colored spaghetti-like pattern on the white board. He then, with delight, takes the school-size board eraser and whoosh - the colors disappear. Most satisfying. With the dice, I roll them out and ask him to find a pattern ("See if you can pick out all the yellow dice and the itty bitty brown one before I count to 8"). He happily finds the patterns. He will then identify a pattern for me to find. He is now getting a bit more sophisticated. I have started asking if he can make all the dice of one color show the same number facing up. This is harder. He used to enjoy doing jig saw puzzles one by one. Now he likes to overturn them all on the bed, mix the pieces up and then figure out which pieces go with which puzzle.
Because it continues to rain quite a bit (I know, surprise! Rain in Portland - well, actually it is POURING right now with loud thunder and lightning. Welcome, Memorial Day Weekend!) we have not yet gone back to the park near his preschool. The slides don't work well if they are damp. I look forward to hitting those slides, swings and climbing bars when it dries up a bit. I think I am also ready to take a big step. In an earlier entry I admitted that I really hated Candy Land - such bad memories of playing it in the past. Well, I feel obliged to admit to another beloved child's entertainment that I don't like. Get ready - when I usually say this author's name, other mothers/grandmothers clutch their hearts and declare their undying love for the books - here goes, Richard Scarry. In my memory it took FOREVER to get through a book because each page had so many pictures on it. I preferred books that were quicker reads. However, with my new attitude about the joys of grandmotherhood, I am wondering if I might enjoy them now? Why do I care how long each page takes? I have time.
So, today I looked through the children's section of the used books at the gift store of the library where I volunteer. Each month, if I work 4 days, I can select a used book as a thank you and one book was owed me. I looked through both shelves of children's books but no Richard Scarry. Proof, I guess, of how they are loved. Either no one is willing to donate them or they are so beat up from frequent perusals they are tossed rather than donated. Interesting. I just might have to actually buy one. Now, which one? Do any of you have suggestions? Lee and Stephanie certainly had lots of them. I guess I can go to Amazon and check out titles. I suspect ones my kids liked will pop out. Should I also chance buying Candy Land? Maybe my new attitude will even work with that. Ohhhhhh, that's asking a lot. That negativity is much more profound than the one directed at Richard Scarry.
I'll let you know if I buy either and will also let you know the results. I suspect Wesley will love the books and, drat, probably Candy Land as well.
I am annoyed and exhausted. I made it to the library for my volunteer shift this morning (lots of medication made it possible) but dragged myself back to the bus for the ride home. Not fun. France was definitely worth it but fie on that fellow passenger.
Wesley may have picked it up from me so, right now, I am keeping my distance.
When we are together Wesley and I are having fun. Because I was gone for several weeks he now will say, soon after we get home each afternoon, "You know, Gramma, what we haven't done in AGES?" Then he will list a book or puzzle or toy we haven't played with since I went to France. Yesterday it was 2 games - one with a white board and one with a jar of different size dice. He loves to hold a fistful of markers and make a big multi-colored spaghetti-like pattern on the white board. He then, with delight, takes the school-size board eraser and whoosh - the colors disappear. Most satisfying. With the dice, I roll them out and ask him to find a pattern ("See if you can pick out all the yellow dice and the itty bitty brown one before I count to 8"). He happily finds the patterns. He will then identify a pattern for me to find. He is now getting a bit more sophisticated. I have started asking if he can make all the dice of one color show the same number facing up. This is harder. He used to enjoy doing jig saw puzzles one by one. Now he likes to overturn them all on the bed, mix the pieces up and then figure out which pieces go with which puzzle.
Because it continues to rain quite a bit (I know, surprise! Rain in Portland - well, actually it is POURING right now with loud thunder and lightning. Welcome, Memorial Day Weekend!) we have not yet gone back to the park near his preschool. The slides don't work well if they are damp. I look forward to hitting those slides, swings and climbing bars when it dries up a bit. I think I am also ready to take a big step. In an earlier entry I admitted that I really hated Candy Land - such bad memories of playing it in the past. Well, I feel obliged to admit to another beloved child's entertainment that I don't like. Get ready - when I usually say this author's name, other mothers/grandmothers clutch their hearts and declare their undying love for the books - here goes, Richard Scarry. In my memory it took FOREVER to get through a book because each page had so many pictures on it. I preferred books that were quicker reads. However, with my new attitude about the joys of grandmotherhood, I am wondering if I might enjoy them now? Why do I care how long each page takes? I have time.
So, today I looked through the children's section of the used books at the gift store of the library where I volunteer. Each month, if I work 4 days, I can select a used book as a thank you and one book was owed me. I looked through both shelves of children's books but no Richard Scarry. Proof, I guess, of how they are loved. Either no one is willing to donate them or they are so beat up from frequent perusals they are tossed rather than donated. Interesting. I just might have to actually buy one. Now, which one? Do any of you have suggestions? Lee and Stephanie certainly had lots of them. I guess I can go to Amazon and check out titles. I suspect ones my kids liked will pop out. Should I also chance buying Candy Land? Maybe my new attitude will even work with that. Ohhhhhh, that's asking a lot. That negativity is much more profound than the one directed at Richard Scarry.
I'll let you know if I buy either and will also let you know the results. I suspect Wesley will love the books and, drat, probably Candy Land as well.
I am always having this happen to me. A great trip and then I catch something on the plane on the way home. I know not to plan something big right after a plane trip now. I happen to have caught a cold this week, too. Had to scrap a Memorial Day picnic today since I didn't want to aggravate it by being outside in the chilly weather that was predicted. I must be back to normal by Tuesday for brinn & Hadley. Loving all my Grandma moments, too.
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