Family – Page 2 – Days With Grandma

Sensory Play Gone Wild

It started out perfect

A great way to play.

Daddy thought you’d like pushing your tractors

Through some rice in a tray.

It was kind of fun.

You were enjoying this play

But then somehow…

Some of the rice got away!

“It’s ok,” Grandma said,

“it won’t hurt a thing.”

And with that you gathered up some more

And gave it a good FLING!

“No, No, No!” Grandma shrieked

That’s not what we do.

And just like that, you reached for

Handful, number two!

Well, Grandma put a stop

To this thing called “sensory play”

Then got out the broom and dustpan

And made you sweep the mess away.

Well, later that day

Grandma had a change of heart

She got out the tray again and thought

We’ll give this “sensory play” thing another start.

But once again, within seconds

Or maybe a wee bit more

Handfuls of rice starting

Bouncing off the floor!

This time, Grandma just studied

This act of simple joy.

The bouncing beads of rice

Seemed to be better than any toy!

You, finally, stood up

It seemed you were done with this explore.

But, oh no, you weren’t satisfied

Until every last bit was on the floor.

In fact, it seemed like all that rice

Had just been in your way.

What you really wanted was

To crawl inside that tray!

Strawberry Fields, Forever!

We’re going for a ride on a wagon, Little Man!

I don’t want to go for a ride on a wagon. I want to walk!

Look, there’s a tractor. Remember the Barefoot Books song? “Riding my tractor down a bumpy road. In the trailer, there’s a heavy load…” Remember that song?

Yes, and the farmer goes over a bump and all the animals fall out! I remember!

Don’t worry Little Man, we’ll hold on tight.

And just like that, we’re here. Look, there are strawberries everywhere!

You can help pick them and put them in our baskets.

Yea, but look! There goes another tractor!

Ok, now what am I supposed to do?

Hmmm, these taste just like the strawberries we have at home.

Actually…they might be just a little bit better.

I LOVE these strawberries!

Ok, now what was I supposed to do? I’m full.

You’re supposed to stay here and help us pick berries to take home.

Alright, but just for a little while, ok?

There, that looks like enough. See you later.

Hey, where are you guys?

Ah, there you are.

What? We have to pick more?

I’m getting kind of tired you know.

Well, finally! You can carry the berries, ok? I’ll just walk on ahead.

Umm, excuse me! You’re in my way!

Nice shirt, though!

Did you have a good time, little man?

Yea, but mom, I don’t want to ride on that wagon!

But remember the tractor?

I remember the tractor!

Can’t we just walk?

Time To Get Dirty!

Time to plant some flowers, little man.

You can help.

At least, that’s the plan.

I can dig, Grandma,

just like you.

You have a shovel

and I have one too.

Oh, wait, this is a little path

that must be meant for me.

I can walk right through it.

Check this out Grandma. Can you see?

Do you see this fence

on the other side?

It doesn’t come down.

Trust me, I tried!

Wait, I hear something.

What’s that going by?

That’s a helicopter, little man.

Wow, I wish I could fly.

Ok, Grandma, I’m done with the dirt

and I’m getting kinda hot.

But, we have to water the flowers first.

Actually we have to water them a lot!

Oh-oh, Grandma,

I don’t think I understood.

But, my watering can is empty now.

Is that good?

Can we be done now, Grandma

or is there more to do?

Here, I picked up this dirt

for you.

A cold and rainy Monday, do you want to hang around inside the house all day? No. Me neither. What to do, what to do! There is this place; it’s called “Chasing Tales“. It’s a giant playroom just for kids like you. We’ve been there before. The minute we pulled into the parking lot it starts; screaming joy from the back seat!

I open the door and the wiggling, squirming, twisting and turning starts.

“I have to pay. We have to take our shoes off.”

Well, go fast, Grandma!

And you’re off.

So much to do.

You run from one area to another; touching, picking up, inspecting,

sometimes stopping to look at another child, briefly,

sometimes wanting to examine the very thing that someone else is playing with,

so you just take it.

They do the same to you as well.

Funny how kids your age don’t really care,

you just move on to the next thing to explore.

Oh wait, there’s another room It’s a giant gym! Running is easy: falling is no big deal. There are things to climb, balls to carry and throw and kick, riding toys; lots of riding toys, slides, a little house with a door that you can open and close by yourself. Ah, baby love!

The noise level is louder in this space, so first you just stand there and scream.

No one cares.

Scream to your hearts content.

Then you’re off: riding, climbing, running, riding, climbing, running.

And then you realized that you were tall enough to climb the biggest structure of all.

You have no fear.

Well, Grandma has a lifetime of fear, so the camera gets put away.

Oh my goodness, you are climbing up some high steps!

Grandma has to climb too. What?

Well, you are not going to fall on my watch!

And after running around and around, back and forth from room to room,

exploring,

touching,

carrying,

throwing,

hitting (oops, sometimes it’s another little kid),

and climbing that structure again and again,

you stand outside of that little house and scream at a little girl, in your baby babble,

because she won’t open the door.

It was time to go home.

You didn’t complain. You were tired.

Still, you jabbered from your carseat all the way back home.

And when we got home, you slept…and so did Grandma.

Perfect rainy day!

A Walk In The Woods With Grandma

You probably don’t remember but about 7 months ago, I took you for a walk in this woods? Same woods, same stroller, but now you are a bigger baby! It’s a beautiful spring day; the perfect kind of day for another walk in the woods with Grandma. Let’s see what we see this time, shall we? First, you are now 17 months old. You don’t say many real words but you communicate just the same. It starts with you pointing to things. So, I decided to take a picture of everything you pointed to. First were the branches way up high, then the trees and path straight ahead. I didn’t judge. I just accommodated, labeling everything that you pointed to.

With the next photo, you pointed towards the pond and said “uck”; your word for duck and goose. You couldn’t see them but you could hear them.

Yes, we’ll find a duck soon. Let’s keep looking.

Remember no judgement!

You don’t say owl but you make an owl sound with you mouth closed. Try it. Say “Hoo-Hoo” with your mouth closed. That’s the word for owl right now; any owl, every owl you see. You seem to find them everywhere.

Time to get out of the stroller.

Last fall, you crawled into this little house. I think you stayed about as long this time as last time still.

10 seconds into the house,

5 seconds to look out the window, and

2 seconds to get out.

You were far more interested in continuing the walk. So, onward! Back into the stroller, you went.

A duck, a duck, we finally spot a duck.

Well, it’s a goose

but remember,

to you,

duck, duck, goose…

one and the same.

Then, time to get out of the stroller again.

Now this is something more interesting than the “uck”. You spot a ramp!

Up and Down,

the ramp you went.

I grew tired of this activity. You probably would still be there going up and down, up and down.

But with a bit of protest, I got you back in the stroller and in no time, your fingers were pointing again. This time…

Yea! Your way of saying flower is in sign language. You put your fingers up to your nose and sniff. Mmmmm, pretty flowers. Man after my own heart.

Then, you spotted a trail marker post. So, I pointed to both of the colors but then gave you a job.

“Which path are we going to follow, little man? How about if we follow the yellow. Can you be on the lookout for the yellow markers?” You were doing a great job until you became distracted with this: