Better To Watch Them Receive

It is frustrating as grandparents to select Christmas gifts for our grandchildren and then see the gifts get pushed aside in a mad rush for the next gift. We have the opportunity to foster a much better response if we think our gifts through. With any young child it is hard to keep a lid on the manic rush of holiday gift-giving.


This year was a delightful one with my granddaughter Annalise - for two, maybe three, reasons. First, we paced ourselves with the gift-giving occasions and made sure that there was plenty of time for each gift to be savored. Next, I combined my need to buy cute clothes as gifts with age appropriate gifts such as relevant toys or books. For example a sock monkey doll was included in the gift box with the Christmas pajamas with a sock monkey theme ...plenty of time was spent with the doll that could be made to take on several poses with the help of magnets in the hands and feet. Last, we followed Anna's lead when it came to interacting with the toy or book ...not necessary to learn all the rules of a game, but rather more important to reduce the pressure to use the toy or book in exactly the "right way" and infinitely more rewarding to experience these new toys and books with a real sense of wonder and playfulness, just like the children in our lives.

I confess that my expectations were pretty high for a positive response to the Christmas outfit I had so carefully selected - a plaid jumper, turtle neck shirt, sweater, tights and shiny patent leather shoes. I couldn't wait to see Anna in the outfit. My expectations were quickly surrendered when it became clear that Anna was not interested in putting on a fashion show with this new outfit. She delighted us instead with her willingness to strip off her jeans and sneakers to put on pretty pink tights and the shiny patent leather shoes that she dubbed "dancing shoes" ...the sweatshirt stayed on in what Daddy called the jazz-tap look. Plenty of time was spent with this gift, as Anna asked "shall we dance?" and then coerced great-grandma to go put on her dancing shoes, getting all in the act for dancing to Christmas music. What a gift from our precious little one.

Wag The Brow

When Anna came to visit this past Sunday she brought a new trick. She has learned to wag her eyebrows - and at the appropriate times. It is absolutely hilarious to see her make a joke or outrageous statement and then wag her brows like Groucho Marx. This from a dainty, girly two year old. Last night when she visited she was at the dining room table and turned her head to the side, so I could only see one eyebrow, wagging them both she said "one brow!"

Thanksgiving Relection

This past Thanksgiving Day was cause for reflection. It was 2 years ago, right after Thanksgiving that my son decided to divorce his wife. I know it was not an easy decision, his biggest consideration being the relationship he would have with his then 5 month old daughter, Annalise.
Since then he has continued to amaze me by the lengths he would go to protect his rights to parent Anna.

Fast-forward 1 year for a fond memory of spending Thanksgiving with my son, his Dad and stepmom, my mother and of course Anna. We were all able to give thanks for the official ending of a difficult year, a finalized divorce and a beautiful little girl that had delivered such joy to each of us.

This year on Thanksgiving Day, Anna was with her mother and family so our day of gratitude was delayed a few days. Nevertheless, my gratitude for this precious human being fills my heart to overflowing and makes a difficult year much, much better.