books and stories

   Our grandson spends a lot of time with us. His parents are now divorced and his mother is a police officer who has to be at work at 6:30am. He either spends the nite with us or she brings him here at 6am. When he spends the nite, before he goes to sleep I read him 2 books that he (most of the time) selects and then I have to tell him a story. Topics of the stories have to be cars- corvetts and mustangs, motorcycles- suzukies, or snakes. When he arrives  at 6am, he requests a book but I tell him it is too early. I suggest a story and that is OK with him. The nice thing for me is that he falls asleep before he hears the story so I can tell it again. The main character of each story is either a little boy or a young man. He does not have a name but my grandson know he is that character.

it finally happened

My grandson will be 4 in October. As of a month ago he was not toilet trained for stool much to the worry of me, his mother, grandpa and his other grandma. He had a few successes but it didn't last. He has too many gagets for my liking and each was taken away until he could have a BM in the toilet. He also had 2 remote controlled cars that he could not use until then. Part of me was pleased that he couldn't use all those devices. Part of me was worried about how long it would take him to use the toilet. He didn't even seem to care that he couldn't play, his DS, Wii or xbox- all provided by his parents. On several occassions he would ask to use something but when we said no he went to play with something else.
   He always seemed to know when he would have a BM as he would stand in the corner of the den and poop telling us to stay away from him. We would urge him to use the potty but he said no. Once he was urine trained he came out of pullups but would poop in his pants. He would clean himself and put clean pants on. During this time we all backed off and when he told us he had to go poop we said OK and all went about our business. Then 1 day when we were away he pooped in the potty and hasn't looked back.
He rermains so very proud of himself as well he should. Each poop is announced and praised.

on being a gentleman

My grandson likes to eat eggs and sausage for breakfast or at other times of the day. One recent evening he wanted them. I began to get all the ingredients and he pulled the chair up to the stove. I asked what he was doing and he told me he was going to help me as it was the gentlemanly thing to do. He is 3 1/2 years old.

Beginning Kung Fu

My grandson has never met a stick that couldn't be used as a sword. He also likes to do round house kicks and make kung fu  motions with his arms. His mom has gotten him involved in kung fu lessions. The person who teaches the lessions has agreed to let him do this even though he is only 3 1/2 years old because of his level of coordination and strength. This should be really good for him especially to become more focused.

skipping and jumping

On Thursdays my grandson spends the entire day with my husband and me. He and I take our 2 Westies for a morning walk.While still on our street he walks Lucy and especially likes for the 2 of them to walk on a neighbor's retaining wall.. We remember events that happened on previous walks- his being pulled down a neighbor's driveway when he came out with his dog and Lucy wanted to get to the dog. Once we get aound the corner I get to walk both dogs and he goes to say hello to Denise in the bakery. He my get a cookies if he had some nutritious food. Then he is off down the street. I love to what him skip (his version) and jump and run through the parking lots going behind the antique shops where all that is left is the cement foundation of a burned down building. He jumps up and runs back and forth as I put the 2 dogs up and get myself up. At the lower edge of the lot is a small path overgrown with blackberry bushes. This slows him down a little so I can catch up to him ( I worry about some creepy person lurking in the shadows). I try not to make him fearful but let him know I need keep him in my site. He runs to the small office of the motel and calls for Shirley.(we met her on one of our earlier walks). Shirley comes out and gives him a big hug and talks with him. Then we are off to the smelly  pond behind the building and reverse our trip and go home. Another story

connecting to my history by stories for my grandson

Both of my parents are dead and both of my brothers suffer from dementia. When I think about some aspect of my childhood I realize I have no one from whom to check the accuracy of my memory or elaborate on what I don't remember. Periodically I tell my grandson stories I do remember. As I tell him a snipet I remember even more of the details. It started out with remembering that my mother washed my out out with soap. He periodically asks me about the soap in my mouth and I remembered 2 times it happened- once I put my thumb to my nose and wiggle my finger at my mother. I didn't  know why that was bad (I still don't) and she pushed up a bar of soap into my front teeth. It tasted terrible. The other time I was playing with my friends on a summer evening. When my mother called me to come home, I pretended I couldn't hear her and that's what I told her when I came home. She had none of that and washed my mouth out again. More then the particulars of the stories I am delighted that telling my grandson stories connects me to my past.

not seeing father very often

   My grandson's parents are in the process of getting a divorce. His father takes him maybe once a month, picking him up  Saturday morning or afternoon and bringing him back Sunday morning.
  I was pushing him on the swing the other day and he talked about his father coming to visit and he said, "Brandon Sr comes to see me a lot" I couldn't believe he would think that so I asked him ," you see you dad a lot ,"and he said yes. I don't know if because of his age that 1 24 hr period once a month seems like a lot to him or this is just his wishful thinking. He adors his dad and it breaks my heart that he is so absent in his son's life. I do keep my mouth shut and never say anything negative about his dad.