September 23, 2009
A night to remember…
It was nothing spectacular, it was not a big event… it was just an evening of babysitting our grandchildren at their house. It was an evening of just normal activities and schedules for an average Tuesday night for a busy family. We arrived at 6PM and played a game of Hide and Seek and Ring around the Rosy, Papa, Lexi, Trevor and I. Trevor was so funny, he just drops to the floor on his butt, of course he is the only one with the extra diaper padding. For me, its just drop down on one knee, because if I go all the way to the floor, it would take me too long to get back up on my feet. The children adore their Papa. He always has suckers in his pocket for them, maybe that is why they like him so much, they run to Papa all the time, and he gets such wonderful big hugs. He is their constant playmate.
It is time for supper and we have been called to the table. Lexi goes into a pout because Grandma (me) is seated beside her and not Papa. We finally get beyond that, and enjoy a wonderful meal prepared by my daughter. Trevor, he loves his food and eats with such gusto. The meal is completed and the kids want us to continue in play!!! While they are off washing their hands etc, Les and I help clear the table, and off to play, while Heather and Mike are left with the task of kitchen tidy before they leave for thier outing.
We headed to the backyard. Lexi is so proud and shows me how she can pump on the swing. I asked her who taught her to do that, and she told me “ No one, I just tried and tried until I could do it!” She was so proud of her accomplishment. Trevor was on his little swing, and even asked me to push instead of Papa, now that was such a pleasant surprise, such a little thing that can warm my heart. Lexi and I had a game of batting a ball around. We decided to go for a walk, their storage shed has a door like a garage, and it was so much fun to see this 4 year old and 2 year old, cooperate and work together to get that door open and to get the wagon out. We started our walk around the block, Trevor in tow in the wagon, and Lexi running a head of us, she usually was at least a ½ block ahead of us, now and then stopping to glance back to see where we were, sometimes stopping and waiting, but always keeping that distance ahead. It gave me such pleasure to watch her so freely running with such agility and glee. There was such a bounce to the step and the arms swinging free in motion in coordination with the legs. She had a dress and sandals on, and my back just tingled with the fear of her falling and skinning up a knee. Her lime green jacket was a contrast to the dark green grass along the paths of the sidewalk, and presented such a pretty picture ahead, and thankfully she stood out in the distance for me to see. We were nearing the corner to a busy street, I called her back with the little finger motion, you could see a glimpse of disgust as she slowly came back to us. I asked her to please stay with us as we were nearing the corner, and you know the reply, “ My mommy lets me…..” We compromised, Papa told her she could go to the corner, but had to wait until we got there before she went any further, so that we could keep her in our sights. She did as we asked, but as soon as we reached the corner, off she goes, running her pace, to beat us back to the house. Through out our little journey, Trevor silently sat in the wagon and enjoyed his ride, except to greet some puppies we met along the way.
We returned to the house, and it was time for me to give Trevor a shower and get him ready for bed. This little guy, loves showers, he takes in the warmth of the water running down his little neck and back as though he has had such a hard day, and it just relaxes him so. I even got him to go potty in his new elmo potty chair, I guess this is a great accomplishment, but I didn’t know about the M&M treat for a job well done. That I found after Mom got back home, as I told her about his doings. He didn’t seem to mind that he didn’t get a treat and relished in the praise alone that he got.
He runs off to his bedroom, with Grandma in tow, but first clean up our mess a bit. As I enter his room, there he is squatting on the floor, he had just unplugged the steamer I had set up for him. I called out his name “ Trevor, No, you can’t do that” I have seen Trevor cry before, but I have never ever seen such a broken hearted cry that I caused. My heart dropped to my toes as I saw his reaction. I sat on the floor and asked him to come to me, and as he sobbed and sobbed he made his way to me. I wrapped him up in my arms and said I was so sorry I had scared him, but he scared me too. I tried to explain to him how he could get an “owie” from what he was doing. He sobbed and sobbed, and I didn’t think he would ever get over it. I quickly got him ready for bed, putting Vicks on his feet for his cough, lotion on his arms and legs, giving him some to put on his tummy too. I got his pajamas on him, and he still sobbed. I got a book and began to read to him, and he still had an occasional sob. Finally, I said come on Trevor, lets read books in your bed. He tried to grab a whole pile of books, and I had to help him with that. He crawled up in his bed clothed in Thomas the Train, and on his bed lives many stuffed animals. We settled in, and one by one we went through his books. I let him pretty much turn the pages, and we really didn’t read the stories, but talked about all the different pictures. I was amazed at all the animals he knew through out the books. It was getting late and I knew it was way past his bedtime, and I tried to sneak one of the books from the unread pile to the read pile, well I got caught, and couldn’t get by with that, so the book got put back into the pile of the books that were yet to be read. We finished the books, and said our prayers. By then he was all over the sobbing incident, thank goodness for that. He was ready to settle in underneath his blanket, with all his precious little friends lined up in a certain way, and some piled on his chest. It was such a great quality time, that I got to spend with that little guy, how such a simple little thing can bring such emotion and joy to this old grandma. It was a special time.
And Papa was having his special time with Lexi, who loves to go downstairs to play. They too were reading stories. Every now and then I had to disturb her time with Papa to ask for her help while I was tending Trevor, or to ask her where something was. I learned later from my husband that when I would call out to her, she would just ignore me, and he would have to tell her that I needed her. She would come to my rescue and return to her time with Papa. One time when I called for her, her response to Papa was “Not again!”
Papa and Lexi came upstairs and it was time for her shower. (Late, we were behind our schedule) 4 years old and very independent, she could do it all by herself. She showered and washed her hair all by herself, which was quite an accomplishment, as just a couple of weeks ago, she didn’t like showers and always took a bath. I mentioned to her we had to hurry, and she understood, we had to get this done before her Mom and Dad got home. Well, we didn’t make it to bed before Mom got home, so Mom was trying to get Lexi to bed, as we left. We said our goodbyes and departed, as long as we are still there, Lexi will try and stall and drag out her time.
On the drive home, my husband and I shared our stories of the evening. He had a similar story, He was reading to Lexi, it was a rather big book, he accidentally turned two pages at once, and he realized the story suddenly wasn’t quite jiving, but he kept on reading. She stopped him, and told him he had missed some pages, and she made him go back to the beginning of the book to start all over. She went to the very beginning to the copyright page and he told her that wasn’t the beginning of the story, but she insisted that was where he had to begin, so he read the copyright page to her. As they were reading their story Les became hoarse, and told Lexi he needed a drink of water, and that they should go upstairs to get a drink, she told him, No he should go upstairs and get a drink, but she was going to wait downstairs for him. She didn’t want to go upstairs and take a chance to end her fun story time with Papa.
Oh, they are so precious, so innocent and loveable. I adore my grandchildren. Such joy they bring to us, both Les and I. And we get to do it again, as this weekend is a sleep over at our house!
~pjh~
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TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!
