The Burrow

FlapJilly is a voracious reader.  Her library card is a cherished possession.  Barnes and Noble gift cards make her swoon.  Little Cuter turns off her light and removes the books from her bed after she's fallen asleep; she can't bring herself to say "Stop reading, it's late!" Graphic novels and chapter books.  Dog Man  - a man/beast combo - replaced the unicorn princess books which followed the other, easier to read ones, until she hit her stride.  In a switch that brought a smile to my face and my brain, she picked up one of her mother's favorite series - The Baby Sitters Club. The books I bought Little Cuter in Barnes and Noble in Corte Madera, all the way in the back of the store, were pink.  Now they are much more than that.  They are full color graphic novels .   Because the kid is an avid reader, I'm not fretting too much over the need to turn literature into a comic book.  I've always been of the opinion that as long as they ...

While Giblet's T-ball For Three Year Olds is barely controlled chaos, team sports have begun in earnest for his big sister.  She's got white baseball pants and cleats with pink laces . She's got two braids, placed strategically low to accommodate her bright pink batting helmet.  She's got orange socks and a green tee shirt from their sponsor - Beef O'Brady's.  She pulled up the socks, tucked in the shirt, looked at herself in the mirror and said I'm Beautiful!. SIR is the assistant coach, who's been called up as interim coach for every game thus far.  The ball field is his happy place, and sharing it with his little girl takes it to another level.  These are the fields he played on in his youth.  His parents and his cousins come to watch.  His wife takes pictures. He's teaching and helping and taking it seriously.  Just look at those game faces. FlapJillly's season is starting off strong.  She is hitting well and making intelligent defen...

Little Cuter sent this photo, captioned: I support this sleeping position. So do I.  

Actually, My Young Friend was the physical presence in the store.  I was available for consultations by telephone while she took my list and my Costco Visa card and walked the aisles.  It was fun to imagine the store in my head as I organized the list for her.  I went down the outside aisle, rejecting the clothes and furniture and, I'm sure, Christmas decor on the right, and the tools and practical supplies on the left.  I sent her straight to the drink section, where we got to work.  I wanted sparkling water, but in bottles not in cans.  I knew that the bottle had green writing on it, but it's not Perrier.  It's Italian, but the Kirkland brand.   Oh wait!!! I see it!!!!! Success is measured differently during a pandemic.  We were ecstatic.   From there, things went smoothly.  The mini heads of romaine, one of which is just enough for the two of us as an appetizer (or, lately for TBG, as dessert), were un...

TBG and I are doing all that we can to insure that Mark Kelly replaces Martha McSally in the US Senate in January.  We planned to host an Afternoon With The Candidate in our home in April.  Sadly, that (and many other things) didn't happen.   And then, the campaign had the idea to host an on-line Astro-Hour.  Mark and his astronaut brother, Scott, Rusty Schweikert, and Karen Nyberg (whose husband just rode up to the ISS) talked about one another, about space, and about how wonderful Mark is. Then they took questions.  Eight of them were written in and read by the moderator.  And then there was FlapJilly.   The Finance Director wondered if I knew any children who might want to ask a question of an astronaut.  A kid asked a question on the first of these calls, and it was a big hit.  Did I know someone he could ask? Did I know someone?   I hung up, called Little Cuter and FlapJilly, explained the situation, and rec...

And while Mama was working, I was sitting below her doing my work in a workbook. What kind of workbook?  Letters or numbers? Numbers, of course.  It was numbers.  It was Addition and.................. and ............ and........ .................and....... (i nsert sigh, giant hair shake, and shoulder shrug before she looks back at the camera and says, emphatically )  ..... and Not Addition. Oh. Subtraction? That's it!  But Not Addition is the opposite so............. and we moved on to another topic while Grampa and Gramma smiled at this glimpse into the brain of an almost-6-year-old human. (P.S. Her teacher sometimes says "take away" just like Grampa.)

Little Cuter created a Kindness of Calendar for her graduating kindergartner. Every day has a different activity, starting with June 1st:   Volunteer to do the dishes after a meal. FlapJilly was faced with the detritus of baking and snacking and dinner.  She was unfazed. It was a problem to be solved, an organizational dilemma that was right up her alley.  That which did not go into the machine was washed by competent hands in the sink.   And Mama didn't have to do anything at all. It's been a tough week for the grown-ups; kindness certainly helped.

(For the 10 people who read this yesterday before I pulled it at 10am Arizona time, I apologize!  This was supposed to be Tuesday's post, but it got ahead of itself and appeared, briefly on Monday.  I'm not having enough adventures to fill The Burrow with pictures, and I cannot watch the talking heads for inspiration, and I'm running out of thoughts.  So, here it is, where it's supposed to be.) ***** Special time with FlapJilly was supposed to have taken place in person in her home last week.  We had plans for crafts and baking and picking up Mama in her office at Notre Dame.  This flu that's going around  put the kibosh on that plan, so we've had to improvise. After a particularly tough afternoon, wherein the absence of a television in her bedroom and the unlikelihood of that situation being remedied in the near future was more than she could bear, FlapJilly retreated to her bedroom with a smoothie, her markers, and her mother.   H...

FlapJilly and I spent a lovely hour or so on Facetime.  It was dinner time and relaxing time and everybody wanted a piece of Little Cuter and Mama only has two eyes and one brain .  Gramma, however, had all the time in the world to listen to the stories of the day, and admire dance moves, and sing Itsy Bitsy Spider when Giblet needed some screen time. When FlapJilly suggested we draw hearts together, I gathered the supplies (paper, black marker, red marker) and moved them and the iPad mini to the coffee table.  I propped the screen against a couple of pillows, plopped myself on the floor, and took instruction. Take the black marker and at the bottom, but in the middle, draw a heart. Put the cover on and take the red one and fill it in.   Then at the top, write I Love You. Who should I write it for? Well, you only have Grampa... so Grampa.   She wrote For Giblet, needing help only with encouragement to sound out that pesky last le...

"Why is Thomas orange?"   SIR was concerned. The big people were relaxing on the couch, watching videos on the phone, on the iPad, on the television, after a hard day at work and pre-K.  The dog, with his now orange fur, strolled by.  The parents wondered. "Orange?  Why is he orange?" "He must have gotten into something in the garden." "Pollen?"  "Sure, it could be pollen.  Let me look." And then, without lifting her eyes from the screen in her lap, not missing a beat, came FlapJilly, participating in the conversation as a fully fledged member of the team. "Guys.  Guys.  I spilled my mac and cheese on him." Being a Big Sister has propelled my grandbaby into Big Girlhood.   She's learning about the planets, because pre-K has a curriculum that includes such things.  She announced that Saturn is her favorite among them, " because it has rings, just like me!"   She's riding her two wheeler ...

She's about to welcome a sibling. Her parents are realizing that the odds will soon be even - two on each side of the power divide. And so, recent emphasis has focused on rewarding Excellent Big Sister Behavior. The rewards are financial, deposited into a piggy bank. Said bank was full on Sunday; FlapJilly was free to spend her earnings anywhere she wanted. The Yogurt Shop. Claire's for baubles and bangles.  The cupcake bakery.  Target. Nope. She took her parents and her kitty purse and her cash to the library store , Barnes and Oble. There she is, leaving with her book bag and her Dad, explaining the situation to him. They've raised a not-yet-4-year-old who makes wise choices. A+ 

There was the world's tallest air slide. There was a big, beveled hill to run down. There were climbing ropes and climbing plates and characters to high five with. Kids could toss real baseballs with their moms. OH, there was also a baseball game. Sometimes, the peripheral activities are more enticing than the actual event. At least that's true when you are three..... or when you're watching Single-A ball.

3am. Mamma, I wanna watch Cinderella videos now, I got all ready  she says sweetly, proudly, while gently rubbing her mother's elbow. Mother rouses herself, looks at the clock, and explains the situation. FlapJilly, you know that the clock has to say 6 or 7 before you can get out of bed .... it's too early for videos... She is interrupted, But I got myself all ready!!!!  the kid wails, disconsolately, piteously, loudly, in the dark, certain of the righteousness of her request. And then Little Cuter notices the damp hair, the neater-than-bed head-curls, the headband.... and as they lie down to snuggle each other to sleep, she rolls over onto to the brush and the spray bottle....  and she realizes that, in fact, FlapJilly had gotten herself all ready... all by herself. And, tired as she was, she smiled. ***** If this is too much of a grandma-alone-is-interested-in-this post, I apologize. Sometimes, she's all that I can think about.  I refuse to ...

Foreign tourists mowed down by a fanatic. Presidential tweets excoriating our judicial system. My Rubber Stamp Representative, who votes with Trump 96% of the time, is deemed too liberal by her fellow Conservatives. It was 38 degrees when I drove Little Cuter to work this morning and it rained on us with cold, hard drops when we walked to the car after dinner. I could be annoyed, depressed, aggravated, peeved. I could be righteously outraged. But there's this little person with the biggest personality who serves as a perfect distraction. The world is going to hell in a hand basket, but it’s pure background noise. Grandchildren..... better than Ativan.

Yesterday was the first time since 2009 that I’ve forgotten to post my thoughts for your consideration. TBG and I are visiting FlapJilly and her parents and other grandparents and her cousins and, I must be honest and admit that I totally forgot to write to you. Mea culpa.  Mea maxim culpa. FlapJilly is all consuming, from  hide and seek that got Grandma in the coat closet with my legs stuck above the boots and umbrellas to stuffing her mouth full of delicious and gigantic grapes. She is delightful company, but the company is impossible to ignore. She’s charming and demanding and right  now she is refusing to go to sleep. She’s overstimulated and overtired and overindulged by her maternal grandparental units, and, perhaps, we’ve aggravated the situation. There is a minuscule amount of guilt on our parts, we must admit. There is something delightfully decadent about making her happy. Can you blame me for falling into her orbit and out of yours?

Forget Jeff Sessions rewriting history. Forget Donald Trump and his $25,000 unfulfilled promise. Forget the Cubbie's dismal hitting and Gordon Hayward's shattered ankle. Instead, look at this face. Aren't you smiling?

I crocheted a blanket for FlapJilly.  Her mommy bought the pattern, which I'd seen but rejected because I'm cheap.  I bought the yarn at Michael's and, with all my coupons and their sale pricing, I spent less on the supplies than I did on lunch that day. I made it five times; the instructions were more than a little unclear.  *I started, examined the results, pulled the work apart and started again* repeating the pattern between the *'s over and over and over again.  The mistakes only became clear as the garment grew. It's worked with two strands of yarn at a time, which made unraveling it unnerving.  Tangles make me nutty, untangling reminds me of Tom Sawyer in drag, yet over and over I toiled, getting it right... or right enough. And right enough it was.  Little Cuter had opened the packaging so extricating my gift was simple.  Folded in half, looking down at the roses, FlapJilly told her mother than It's a Belle one!  as her father helped...

Gramma and Grampa like the main library in South Bend, so we took FlapJilly to story time today. Miss Amy read books about bears.  FlapJilly sat, stoically, watching, not jumping or clapping or dancing.  She paid close attention to every word of every story, but said not a word.  Miss Laura, her first pre-school teacher, was there and said Hi!  but the kid was non-plussed. As soon as the program was finished, she was back to her usual jovial self.  She dragged us by the hand to the railroad cars by the windows, insisting that we Sit Dere!  while she sat across from us, reading a book of her own choosing.  She and Grampa had a fine time with the castle and the imaginary princesses and dragons.  Her tiny fingers climbed the inner staircases and jumped off the towers as she created her own story time. We couldn't leave without playing with this, the only toy I never bought for The Cuters. Their pediatrician had one, and playi...

In the real world, the White House Communications Director was fired before he was officially on the payroll.  In the real world, the Senate is trying, once again, to fix in a minute what they've had seven years of preparation to present. In the real world, planes are delayed and young adults go to work and air conditioners break down and roads are paved causing circuitous loops to be driven in order to find FlapJilly's house. In my life, there is this My space is much more lovely.