Friday, September 3, 2010

Loving note or landmine?

So...

I was babysitting our littlest Grand yesterday and somehow, at the age of four, she has figured out she can write.

After lunch I told her we were going to take a nap and she jumped up and ran down the hall.

A second later she came running back, out of breath, and said "Gwamma, Gwamma! Don't come back until I say!" and then she sprinted off again. Seriously, how can four year olds not drop with exhaustion after living two hours of their hyper little lives?

After several minutes more she came running back down the hall and said "C'mon Gwamma, C'mon!"

And we climbed into bed to do our reading and then napping!

When I started to lay down she said, "Gwamma, the surprise is under your pillow!" And lo and behold when I looked I saw this little note.


"Read it! Read it!" she squeaked in her excitement.

So I "read", "I love you Grandma, from Morgan!"

She frowned. "Gwamma! You can't read it right. I will get your glasses!" And off she ran, pell mell, down the hall to return a moment later with a pair of my reading glasses.

I tried again! "Grandma! I love you. Morgan!"

She frowned again and said "That's not what it says Grandma! You have it upside down!" and she carefully turned the note over and handed it to me again.


"Read it! Read it!" she demanded.

So I tried again. "It says 'I don't want to take a nap, Grandma!"

And she frowned even more. And squinted at me. And looked suspiciously like she might cry. And then she said "I can do better!" and ran down the hall again to return after several minutes with a brand-new note!

"Gwamma. This is better. Read this note."

Hmmm... I feared I was going to fail the note reading task once again so I diplomatically told her, "Wow, this is cute! And I see your name here!"

And she said, "What else! What else does it say Gwamma!"

So I cautiously said, "I see a picture of you and me. That's you and me, right?"

And she said, "Right Gwamma! You can read! You can read! You're the one wearing shorts, see?"



And I just figured I better totally quit while I was ahead, so I agreed, and then distracted her with her favorite book about The Poky Little Puppy.

Sometimes when you're a Grandma you need to know the best time to extricate yourself from the landmine field!

Sigh...

post signature

51 comments:

My Grama's Soul said...

Good morning Jenny....oh.....grandkids....are the best aren't they! Their little or "big" imaginations are amazing. I can tell you are loving every minute of being with yours.

Xo

Jo

Tina said...

awww what a little doll. sensitive little souls arnt they at that age.

Unknown said...

oh so precious! I'm taking grandparent notes for future reference (loooooong into the future reference!)

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

Justin does the same thing to me! He writes stories for me to read, then gets really mad at me when I read it wrong. I have to ask a lot of questions about the pictures and feel it out, until we come to the "agreed upon" correct reading of the text. I used to love semiotics and theories of symbols, but this is nuts!

Paula ~ castleandcottagesigns said...

oh my gosh that is sooo cute Jenny!

noexcuses said...

Great save!

She sounds adorable! And the energy... wow!

I can't wait until it's my turn to be grandma!

Thanks for sharing such a special time!

Terra said...

oh Jenny, for fear of making it all about me (just kidding) I have to tell you that Lauren was an early writer and she wrote me notes every night at bed time and I had to decipher them and write back by morning...she wrote somewhat phonetically but mostly it was quite difficult. she was 3, I did my best - I failed a lot!

Kaelin said...

how adorable!

Susannah said...

A beautiful story, thanks for bringing a smile to my day. :-)

Cheryl said...

Hells yeah. I missed her name in the first one. Went back and looked again close-up. Sure enough, there it was. Snort.

Terry said...

When my kids were little I used to always get it wrong too! LOL I can only hope I'll do better as a grandma when the time comes! :0)

One Photo said...

What a lovely story - I was laughing as I read your failed attempts at correctly interpreting the "writing" - nothing more frustrating to a preschooler than you getting something wrong :-) I think you did very well and you look very fetching in your shorts!

Unknown said...

priceless!

Jocelyn said...

I am smiling all over myself...Good job Grandma...you got it!!!!

Thanks for sharing this with us!!!

Wishing you a great Holiday weekend!!!

Vicki/Jake said...

FIVE STARS FOR GWAMMA!

Awesome Jenny :)

pam said...

Oh my gosh...too funny. I was holding my breath for you.

Anonymous said...

Sweet Jenny, I think you did very well reading Morgan's notes to you. The last note is precious. Sounds like another writer coming up to me. Hugs

Jules said...

Thank you Jenny. I really needed a laugh right now.

What a clever little one you have there and if you are not careful she is going to run rings around you!!!!!

Jeanie said...

I like that she is a writer, just like her grandma.

Holly said...

Oh my, I could just see myself in your shoes with my brain a whirling ninety miles an hour trying to think what my grand daughter wrote. I must say you did very well. And yes, I do know the story of The Pokey Little Puppy and I wish I could hear to read it. I can just imagine how dramatic you become.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

So cute and yes little whirlwinds! Love the 'note reading' I had that experience with my own girls. Someday with grands!

Pondside said...

Landmine, indeed! Thank heavens for that last letter and a chance to redeem yourself, Gwamma.

Wanda..... said...

I'm sure that signed sweet drawing of you both will be kept in a safe place. I keep drawings in an old covered picnic basket.

fredamans said...

Your own Kids Says the Darndest Things moment. Nice!

Unknown said...

oh my! that is too sweet!

Cheryl D. said...

LOL! That was so cute! But it does sound like you need to brush up on your reading a bit! Just saying!

maggie said...

Loved it. I'm not a Grandma yet but look forward to the day.

Tina said...

Adorable story! Just "grand". Hahaha. When I become a Gwamma, I want to nap with them...what a precious tradition.

Marlene said...

Heeeheee, I love it!!!!! I wish you were my "gwamma" when I was a kid!

Theresa said...

How sweet! I love the picture and I also LOVE the Poky Little Puppy! My daughter is going to 37 this year and I remember reading it to her as a child!

Have a wonderful day today dear Jenny whatever you do!

HUGS!

Busy Bee Suz said...

Morgan is so cute and funny. And Jenny, you are the most diplomatic Grandma ever. :)

Unknown said...

awwwww, this makes me cry, darn you......

Susan Anderson said...

I always hate when I can't come up with just the reaction they're hoping for...

heehee

The minefield of grandparenting. Indeed.

=)

Jo said...

the pokey little puppy was one of my daughters very books too!!!

kudos to you for recording all you darling conversation with your grand ... what a wonderful story ... and what wonderful little bits of childhood art to keep and cherish!

Dee said...

Be still my heart...what an adorable post.

Amy said...

I LOVED the Pokey Little Puppy when I was a kid. How great you are reading her that note. And what a sweetie to be writing you notes. Good job on the deciphering. You are amazing.

Maude Lynn said...

I remember doing that with my daughter!

J said...

that's so cute.
i had a little girl i was watching at church do something similar to that...
i'm so glad the child has an attention problem otherwise i wouldn't have gotten out of trying to read it so easily.

Anonymous said...

I must say, those little ones can challenge our ability to get out of tricky situations sometimes. Sounds like you have it all under control.

Teresa

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Great story! I must remember that for when our grands begin to expect that we read what they've "written."

Chatty Crone said...

Oh Jenny that was so sweet. Awe!

sandie

Brenda said...

Oh Jenny sweeter than sweet are our grandchildren. I would love to see mine everyday! You were very diplomatic in the end but I would have thought something about loving Grandma would have been the subject for sure.

Jessica B said...

Oh Jenny, that is adorable! LOL.

Vanessa said...

I cracked up reading this because I have had COUNTLESS of those moments with my rascals! Totally better to quit while you're ahead!
You are an experienced gramma for sure!
Vanessa
http://southerninmyheart.blogspot.com

Melinda said...

1 for Grandma

Good for you!

Melinda

H said...

Well done Jenny. Nice rescue. I'm sure that you will treasure many more moments like this, and, in years to come, you and Morgan will laugh about the time that she was smart enough to write you notes which you weren't quite smart enough to read :)

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

I absolutely adore your waif-like appearance!!! Why, you and she could be sisters in that picture.


MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Unknown said...

Too precious! She was adamant about your reading her note the right way. My daughters would write "notes" like that and I would write what they said that it said on the back and date it. Those are wonderful times spent with your grandbaby.

The Tablescaper said...

Oh so adorable! I have lots of little handwritten notes of my daughter's tucked into my drawers, as I know they won't last forever.

Thanks for becoming a Follower.

- The Tablescaper

Lourie said...

Kids are so dang cute! And how DO they not totally collapse! My son just goes and goes and goes. Non stop. All day. Every hour. Every second. Though he will go to sleep pretty quick at night.

I love Poky Little Puppy and so do my kids!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

I love this, love this! I was caught like this with my little nephew too..It's exhausting to try not hurting his feeling and to get it right!