Our family went to my parents for supper this evening, but we arrived in the late afternoon and stayed until around 7:00. We usually leave a bit earlier, just to keep going with the kids bedtime and such, but today was a special day. Today, my grandma was out visiting 🙂
As I’m sure you can guess, my kids are fairly shy. But my grandma has a FABULOUS radar for them. She speaks to them lovingly, and is never offended or hurt if they don’t respond. She gives them space, while making sure they know how much she loves them. Dekker was pretty quiet around her most of our visit, but Laela’s shyness turned to peeking at her from behind chairs. It soon became sitting on my lap, right next to great grandma, and then onto greetings and little words and showing off her tricks. Grandma would always ask before making a move, and the kids appreciated that very much. They were never startled by her, which is a huge quality that not all people understand. So many of us get right in kids faces, with the best of intentions, but not all kids respond well to that. My kids do not, and my grandma was so sensitive to it.
We ate pizza for supper and ice cream for dessert, and the kids ate really well. I can’t blame them. It was homemade pizza!!! We all had a really nice visit and ate an absurd amount. At least I did. I’m still full. We couldn’t stay too long after supper, though. After yet another stupid water debacle out here, we needed to grab one more dispenser jug, plus a few other things. Spider spray, another pack or two of flushable wipes, sour cream, etc. But before we could go, we suited everyone up and said our goodbyes. The kids all maintained that they were too shy of great grandma, but I picked Laela up and asked “Can great grandma have a kiss?” Laela replied “ya,” so I held her up to my grandma and they both went right in!! I was so thrilled! Dekker still wouldn’t have it, but again, my grandma totally understood and didn’t make me feel bad or like my kids were rude. Quite the contrary. She was full of encouragement and praise for how fabulous our kids were. Its so humbling to hear that from someone like my grandma. I’m feeling very blessed and loved today.
After a quick trip in to the city, we made it home and tucked everyone in. Dekker was pretty grouchy going down but Laela and Rowan were both happy as clams. Laela was so comfy, all tucked in, and Rowan ate like a champ before getting all wrapped up and having a giggle fest all by himself, lol, without any help from us!! I hope Dekker feels better in the morning 🙂 I missed him this evening.
Tomorrow we have a quiet home day planned, and I am SO looking forward to the lack of plan/responsibility. It’ll be nice to just spend time without any deadlines.
And WITH running water!