Have you ever had a heart to heart with your grandchildren? We spent Saturday trick-or treating at the zoo with all of my grandchildren. Each one so special with their own personalities that shine. After continually telling some of them several times to “stay by us or you are going to get lost”, I decided to explain to my little 4 year old grandson how important it is to stay by us. I explained to him that we are going on a vacation to Disneyland and that if he doesn’t stay by us, he will get lost. His response was “why”? WHY is a big word in children’s vocabularies and we need to take the time to explain to them. “Just because” isn’t a good enough answer. I knew I needed a good explanation. I asked him to look at me in the face, so I knew he was listening. I let him know that Disneyland is a big, big place with so many things to see and do, and so many people there, that we wouldn’t be able to see him or his cousins in the crowd of people if they didn’t hold our hands. I told him that I was going to bring a child leash that attached to my wrist and then attached to his wrist so he couldn’t wander too far away. His response was “how about we put them on our legs”. To which I replied, “I will fall down and break my nose”. His response was priceless. “I will hold your hand”. BINGO. I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. The importance of staying close and helping each other. I will be taking the child leash with me, and I will put it on our legs, and I’m sure our wrists too. I love that they say what comes to their minds. They don’t need to think about their response, it just comes out of their mouths naturally. I love to listen to their little conversations between the cousins. The innocence they portray. As their Grandma, Paypams, or Muck, I want them to know that I will always be their to listen to them at any time, and in any place.
Author: Pam Deppe
Things my mother taught me.
I’m the youngest in a family of 5 children. My sister is the oldest, 3 brothers, and then myself. As I grew older, I admired my mother for many things. She was a hard working mom, but always had time for her children, and her grandchildren. I remember growing up, that my mother worked for an airline. We were able to travel many places like Hawaii, Disneyland in its first years of existence, San Francisco, Boston and Washington DC. I remember my mother stopping and smelling the flowers. I love to spend time with my grandchildren smelling the flowers.
I remember learning to cook and found a recipe for cookies. I was probably about 14 at the time and was home alone. I started putting the ingredients into the bowl and mixing them together. On my mothers recipe card were the letters BP. After searching through the spice cupboard, the only thing I could find was black pepper. Just as I was about to put it in the cookie dough, my cute mom came in and asked what I was doing. Upon explanation, she started to chuckle, and kindly explained that the BP stood for baking powder. I have a cute 8 year old granddaughter that has always liked to help in the kitchen. I think it’s time I share my cooking stories about my mother with my grandchildren.
My family went camping to Yellowstone National Park every year during the week of July 24th. My mom would prepare for weeks before the vacation was to begin making several kinds of cookies. During the several days spent at the campsite, she would quietly invite one of the grandchildren over to her trunk to “sneak” a cookie out of the tupperware container. As the grandchildren have grown and we sit around talking about their grandma, the children all laugh as they recall the camping trips and each one thought they were the “special child” the only one that their grandma shared her cookies with. Finding out that every grandchild was quietly called to the trunk for a cookie was no surprise to any of them as their grandma was a very special grandma. I want each of my grandchildren to think they are the”special child”. And for that moment, they will be.
GRANDMA
Grandma “a mother of your father or mother”. Hmmm I think a better description of a grandma is a grownup version of a little girl. I love being with my grandchildren. Some of my grandchildren call me “Muck” some call me “Paypams” and some just call me “Grandma”. I love reading to them, I love listening to them, I love talking to them, I love sitting in the back yard watching them play, I love playing the piano with them, singing with them, I love traveling with them, I love playing games with them, I love watching them experience new and exciting things. I love just making memories with them. I think the role of a grandma is a very important role, one of being an example and a cheerleader. They watch everything I do, they listen to everything I say and how I act towards others. My goal is to be the BEST grandma my grandchildren deserve and for each one to know how much I love each one of them.