By Vicki Scott
I remember a car tag from years ago that read, “Let me tell you about my grandchildren.” I had no idea what that meant until I myself had grandchildren. From gardening to trips to other excursions, it seems like a competition as to who has been able to do what with his or her grandchildren.
This summer, some friends of mine have planted a vegetable garden with squash, zucchini, potatoes, and other things I did not jump in to do. One friend recently posted on Facebook about grandchildren washing potatoes that they had dug up. She said the children acted like they were digging for gold. I would love for my “grands” to experience this. I’s such a good idea!
I’ve missed out on several trips to Florida so far this year, including one Disney World. One grandparent posted 76 pictures on each Facebook post showing the fun they had, and memories made during their week in Florida. This summer season has just started but I feel like I’ve had a late start.
My woes seemed to surface after I was called to jury duty. I love jury duty and have served before, but I wanted to spend time with my grandchildren this summer while planning get-togethers with other grandparents and their grandchildren. I called the courthouse, pled my case and asked if I could postpone my jury duty until fall. I explained that my daughter Eva would be on a business trip and that it would help her very much if I could watch her two children, along with the fact that I was already scheduled to keep our oldest granddaughter, Ava Jaymes. The court had mercy and marked me off the docket. Evidently the Lord was looking after me.
Several local shops in Dadeville are offering craft classes that might interest our grandchildren. They interest me, anyway.
My son-in-law brought our granddaughters Saylor Rhea and Tyler Kate to our house to stay, but they forgot their swimming suits. I usually have extras, but none of them fit. My darling and patient husband Alan loaded up his truck and went to local Dollar General to find the girls a swimming suit. Saylor Rhea said that she would wait in the bedroom until he got back. She lay on the floor with no clothes on and the door closed while waiting. She twice sprinted to the bathroom but stayed in the bedroom naked as the day she was born until Alan returned home. These two girls are not spoiled; they are just stubborn, a trait they likely inherited from guess who?
Alas, Alan came back empty handed after having no luck in finding a swimsuit. So, we put shorts and a tee shirt on Saylor Rhea (the clothes miraculously appeared when there was no swimsuit in sight). Saylor Rhea planned on swimming until it was time to get ready for the ice cream social, which our church send-off for vacation bible school. She wound up swimming for three minutes, while Tyler Kate did not enter the pool at all because she was manning her Papa’s phone. We still had three hours until the ice cream social.
For Monday’s activities, I’m thinking about visiting the D.A.R.E. Park after eating at Poplar Dawgs. We also probably need to go to Walmart for a few necessities like swimsuits before lunch. Both the D.A.R.E. Park and Poplar Dawgs are local and child-friendly. Hopefully, this will wear out the girls enough to rest a few hours before vacation bible school. Our son Joseph is off on Mondays, so he will have Ava Jaymes, and could function as extra eye on our adventure, whatever it ends up being.
Tuesday’s options include exercising at the home of a friend, who happens to have three grandchildren and a swimming pool. We’ve been friends for a long time, and it would be wonderful if our grandchildren became friends as well. It would just be us girls, giving poor Alan a break. After that adventure, maybe we could catch a movie before VBS.
Eva is supposed to be back on Wednesday. Ava’s mother Machi, otherwise known as The Greek Goddess, works half a day. I still plan on taking the grands to a knitting class in Dadeville. After that, who knows?