Grandparents' Day!

Today is Grandparents' Day - a day I only recently discovered existed...

Apparently US President Jimmy Carter signed this special day into being - and Canadians came on board!

I also only recently discovered that being a grandparent can have health benefits. I know that physically I'm more active when I hang out with my grandkids... The number on my pedometer jumps any day I spend time with them.

And ... according to "Dr Google" - studies have shown that hanging out with kids can delay dementia and extend your life.

So - whether you have kids or grandkids or not, talking to young ones and hanging  out with them is apparently good for your health! 

"Not Old"

I enjoy hanging out with my grandkids - though sometimes it's hard to keep up!

Recently, as I headed downstairs with them into their playroom, I urged them to go ahead of me on the stairs: Grandma's old, I said. I can't go as fast as you anymore.

Then later, after getting down on my hands and knees to crawl into their fort, it was a struggle for me to stand up again.

Why are you so slow, Grandma? Jericho asked.

I'm old, I replied. 

With a touch of impatience, he pooh-poohed my answer: Get up! You're not old!

(He's wrong! But that was the best compliment I've received in years!)

Sister-Teacher...

I wonder if most teachers start their lives as big sisters (or big brothers).

First they model the task... Then they teach.

I see it as a natural progression.

"Do you want to try to stand on your head?"

"Let me help you..."

"There, you did it...!"

Helping a younger sibling builds confidence  - both for the "teacher" AND the "student"!

It's Not My Job!

In our family, we all have our roles. One of Terry's (by HIS choice) is cutting the grass.

I'VE decided that "bugs" are also his domain. When a large black centipede scooted across the floor early one morning, I stopped. So did he!

I hurried to get an empty plastic yogurt container, hoping he wouldn't disappear while I was gone.. He was still there, so I dropped the container over him. I then added a note to warn Terry about what was underneath.

I wondered if the centipede would still be under the empty yogurt container when Terry got up. (It was!)

There were two interesting reactions to the above scenario:

When I sent my daughter the above picture, she was shocked (perhaps even disgusted) that I wasn't dealing with the problem myself. (Are women braver these days?!)

Terry, on the other hand, was happy to oblige - BUT he was surprised that, having had the bug in captivity for over an hour, I hadn't yet given him a name!

Family Memories

Today is my parents’ wedding anniversary. They were married on this date in 1944.

Here is a picture taken one of the few times all their children and grandchildren gathered together at their home on Lawrence Avenue in Kelowna - a small house they bought for their retirement years. Prior to that, they lived on Bay Avenue and on DeHart Avenue, houses my brother and I lived in as well. Their final home was a condominium on Bernard Avenue

As I look at this photo now, I am struck by how much my younger son, at that age, resembles his own son now.

And how much he now resembles my brother, as he looked then.

And I wonder what my older son is up to - that I’m holding him back, while Terry takes this picture… It couldn’t have been too serious - my father and I are both smiling!

It those days before digital cameras, we couldn’t just check the photo and do a retake.

Mother’s Faut Pas!

To understand what happened here, you have to know two things...

One, that my daughter has a cat named “Panda.”

Two, that my daughter is interested in buying a house or a condo - and she regularly forwards us real estate listings for our perusal.

Recently, I opened a real estate email I assumed was from my daughter. It featured a new high rise called “Panda” in Toronto. 

How cute, I thought...  Our daughter doesn’t normally like living in tall apartment buildings - but this one is called “Panda”!

After reading a bit, I realized that the building hadn’t been built yet. They were looking for investors... 

I quickly replied:

I wouldn’t invest in something that hasn’t been built yet. XO Mom 

Later, talking to my daughter, I mentioned it:

Were you seriously thinking about that Panda condo? I asked.

She looked puzzled. What Panda condo? 

The information you sent me in an email...

I didn’t send you an email, she replied.

Well, I sent a reply saying I thought it was a bad investment - and signed it, “love, Mom”! 

We both had a good laugh!!

I suspect that someone in the condo sales office is going to be very puzzled!!

Understanding Younger Brothers

I was watching two young brothers ride their scooters down the sidewalk, impressed at the skill of the younger one, who was trying to keep up with the older. 

I guess younger brothers always try to keep up with older brothers, I commented to my son, who is himself a younger brother.

No Mom, he said. Younger brothers don’t want to keep up with older brothers. 

They want to BEAT THEM!

Baby Surprise

When they discovered that our three-year-old granddaughter would soon be a big sister, several great-aunts gave her dolls that were babies - to practice on.

 She took her new role seriously...

The dolls became the daily focus of her concern...

When her real live eight-pound baby brother arrived home from the hospital a few weeks later, she wanted to hold him...

But she was puzzled: Why is he so heavy?!

She expected him to be as light - and easy to carry - as her dolls!

Waiting for a Baby Brother

How does a three-year-old spend her time once she knows she’ll soon be a big sister?!

Practicing baby care - with her dolls - of course!!

Mother and Son Enjoying HQ!

I'm always happy to find fun things my adult children and I can do together. Recently, one of my sons suggested that I try a free online game that he plays often. It's called HQ...

It's a live show where 12 questions are asked and three possible answers are given. If you err even once, you're out for that game... But there are one - or sometimes 2 - games daily...

If you succeed in answering all the questions correctly, you share the jackpot prize with all the other winners.

One of my daughter's friends won once - but, divided among the thousands of winning players, the prize ended up being about 10 cents each!

(Yes, thousands of people play!)

At one point in the game below 1.69 million people were online playing!

Not sure how much you actually need to have won before you can withdraw the your winnings...

I wonder - has anyone ever withdrawn any?!!

For me, winning money isn't my main motive in playing. My son and I compete with ... each other!!

Every time we play, we email each other and see who got more questions right!

Children - and Laughter

Laughter comes naturally when young children are around!

Whenever we visit, we enjoy watching our granddaughter as she tries new things...

Like wearing my reading glasses!

Or balancing on her mother's knees!

Or imitating adults around her...

Here she is putting moisturizing cream on her feet, as she has seen adults do...

Nothing escapes her notice!

This little two-year-old always makes us smile.

We realize that the next time we see her, she will be trying new things...!

We don't want to miss any cute stage... Children grow and change so quickly, especially in these early years!

Remembering... The Tiny Steps

It's fun to be reminded of the millions of tiny steps involved in learning grown-up skills:

Skills like opening blinds...

Playing cashier, sitting at a table (and getting up onto a chair alone)...

Washing dishes and helping in the kitchen...

Folding blankets...

Playing hide and seek...

Learning the difference between big...

...and small!

It's also fun to look back (in amazement!) and see how quickly changes occur - those first 18 months!

(Last November - a year ago - our little granddaughter had just started to sit on her own!)

Baby in the House!

The past week and a half, we have enjoyed having a baby in the house.

Our visiting granddaughter... almost three months old, was in town for a visit!

Her parents had come for a wedding, then stayed to celebrate two family birthdays.

It was a lot of fun getting to know her better.

(A reminder of how small each of us arrives in this world.)

Helpful... Or?

For years Terry has been telling me that I often come to the "rescue" of one of our children... By that, I assume he means that I "help" the person in ways that are ultimately not helpful to him or her, that I am keeping the person from maturing.

As a social worker, he is more educated in these matters, I guess. But quite frankly, as a parent, I often don't see it when my "help" is really unhelpful. So I was interested to come across this comment recently in one of the books I am reading, a book of sermons by Barbara Brown Taylor:

Sometimes our ownership of others' problems ends up crippling both them and us... When we make a habit of rescuing other people, we prevent them from learning about the consequences of their actions. We help them keep their illusions about themselves, and we get to be heroes in the bargain, but it is not good for them or for us. Everybody deserves a chance to fail. It is how we learn to be human.

But we also deserve to have someone in our lives who will... dive into the water when what is disappearing down the river happens to be us. That is not "co-dependence." That is agape, self-giving love...

These words don't help me gauge when my "help" is "unhelpful" - but they do remind me that some help is life-giving...

Ottawa Brunch - With Visiting Family

Terry and I often go out for brunch with our kids in Toronto.

Occasionally in summer they visit us, too.











 

Then we discover interesting brunch places in our neighborhood.

Another joy of summer!