I was in a hurry to mail the birthday package to my almost-eight-year-old granddaughter. I found a box that would fit, but I didn't have any wrapping paper on hand. What about the comics? We still had Sunday's paper, and I at first considered the black-and-white pages of the cartoons, but looking further, I pulled out the brightly-colored smaller comic section.
The books looked cute wrapped individually and tied in a stack with some red grosgrain ribbon I had. I hoped it didn't look too make-do, but I think a grandmother (even a Mimi), is entitled to a little eccentricity!
Face Time came on last night with Anne-Marie displaying the books for the camera. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I could see by her shy smiles that she liked them. And it was a present for me that she read aloud a couple of pages for us! Then she said, "The paper was really neat!" Score!
"Did you get a bike for your birthday?" Pa Pa asked her, to which she replied, "No, I learned how to ride a bike!" Then she went outside and demonstrated her new-found skill for us by wheeling around the yard. I'm sure that good feeling of accomplishing a childhood milestone was like a birthday present, too!
Baby Isaac came onto the scene, and Pa Pa remarked that we heard he had climbed the stairs! "Wanta see?" son Jamie asked. I held my breath as proud daddy put Isaac near the staircase. The little climber, hovered over by dad with the iPhone, didn't stop until he had reached the third floor! The playroom! The mother-lode of toy land!
Thankfully Isaac won't be able to reach the stairs on his own, with all the fences and gates they have. Riding herd on those fences seems to be a constant requirement, though, as I have learned young Isaac's new nickname is "Houdini." If he finds a gap, as he did near the piano recently, he maneuvers, flattens himself against said piano, and squeezes through to freedom!
In mailing Anne-Marie's present, I realized I hadn't put anything in for Maddie, the five-year-old. I'd never forgotten this before, and I could only hope she was getting big enough to understand about birthday presents. Wrong! She sat with head down poring intently over the books as she flipped the pages and refused to look at the camera. I was feeling terrible until she finally looked up, tossed a cascade of red hair and flashed a big smile. It may have helped that I promised to put something in the mail!
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