GOD COULDN’T BE EVERYWHERE

SO HE CREATED GRANDMAS

This plaque hangs in my kitchen.  It was given to me by my daughter, after her son was born.  It is so very meaningful to me, and I smile every time I pass it by, not only because I’m thrilled to be a grandma to one of the world’s most adorable, smart, sweet, loving, handsome, and wonderful little boys in the world, but also because it brings back my memories of my own grandmother.

If I close my eyes, I can still see her, sitting in her antique rattan rocking chair, arms outstretched, ready to enfold any child in need of love and a listening ear.

This amazing woman cherished children and was always eager to praise your drawing made at school even though the people were stick figures and the trees were lopsided, listen to you practice the piano no matter how many wrong notes you hit, or just hold you.  She was a role model for Positive Parental Participation in an era before experts were encouraging parents to spend quality time with their children.

When I was ten years old, a wonderful thing happened.  My family moved into my grandmother’s house!  She was getting older and my parents and my aunts and uncles were uncomfortable having her live on her own.  I don’t know how easy it was for my parents to coexist in this multi-generational home, but for my sister and me…it was heaven!  Now we could have access to this very special person on a daily basis, not just on weekend visits.

My favorite time was early Sunday mornings.  My parents and sister would sleep a little later, but my grandmother was an early riser.  I would tip-toe downstairs to the kitchen where I would find her, drinking coffee and dipping her dry bread into it.  She would take down an old porcelain cup, pour in a splash of coffee and fill it to the rim with milk and hand it to me.  Starbucks’ lovers…eat your hearts out…there is no coffee drink available today that can compare to that nectar from the gods. 😉

After we finished our petit dejeuner or little breakfast, my grandmother would go to the pantry (yes, a real old-fashioned pantry that was like a walk-in closet) and get out bowls, flour, sugar and various other ingredients and we would spend the next few hours preparing apple pies and other amazing dishes.  Perhaps that is where I learned my love of cooking and baking and it is definitely one of the reasons I included a cooking activity with each story recommendation in my book for parents of preschoolers.  I understand how important it is to participate positively with young children and encouraging your child to help in the kitchen will build self-esteem and create a life-long parent-child bond.

I have two stories to relate about my grandmother…she was only human, after all.  One shows that she didn’t always use commonsense, and the other…well, if it happened today and the authorities found out about it, she would probably be in jail.  But, it was another time and people had a different mind-set about parenting.  Stop by tomorrow to find out about “curtains for dinner” and “the new car that lost its side-mirrors”.