One-on-One Time

 Yesterday was a good day.  ALL of our kids were here at some point, but as I sat in the gazebo last evening, I was thinking of one thing.  I enjoyed some one-on-one time with each of the kiddos.....except Cooper.

Lynnlee has been here each day this week since their new babysitter was sick, then had to test for COVID and was waiting for the results.  She arrived at 7 each morning, spent some time with Papaw, then when I was awake, spent most of the rest of the day with me.

Lynnlee is finally the only grandkiddo that seems to love me the most.  I am her favorite.  The rest of the kids love Papaw best.  But Lynnlee?  She clings to me. I know it is hard for Megan and Matt when they leave here and she is sobbing "I WANT MY MAMAW!" all the way to Mulberry, but inside, I am smiling because she missed me.  It's not often that I am a favorite of anybody's, so this makes me feel really good inside.  From bubble baths, to picking her hair with not the blue pick but only the black one, to pushing on the tube of cream so it can spurt out a little bullet of Sweet Pea fragrance on her little pointer finger to rub on her arm...she is right by my side.  She is sensitive.  She makes me smile.  She tries to sway me to play her "Baby Shark on You Tube, please, Mamaw?" and I love to hear her say "Mamaw and Papaw Siemens" really fast.  I love that little redheaded girl.

Owen was here Thursday and Friday afternoons, and usually he is Papaw's best buddy.  But our time together during open shows made our relationship a little bit stronger.  On Friday Papaw took Lynnlee upstairs to take a nap, so Owen was with me.  He was watching some episodes of a Dragon show on Netflix while I was hand-stitching binding to Lindsey's quilt, but he would ask for muffins---and gummies--and juice and come over and give me kisses on my cheek.  He is such a cutie and I love him so much.

When Landon came in after he finished his chores, we hopped in the car and went to Lafayette to pick up dinner.  We stopped at Fazoli's for the take out order for Papaw, Tessa, Owen, and the two of us.  He carried it out and held it on his lap for the drive home.  We also went through the carwash with our unlimited pass, stopped for cones at the DQ, and picked up medicine at Meijer drive up window.  Through it all we talked---about school.  About cross country and how much he loved it even though he didn't think he was going to.  About his teacher and how much he liked her.  About being in the kindergarten room but needing to be good role models for the younger kids as they walked to the other fifth grade rooms.  About his friends.  About making good decisions.  About his new glasses and how much better he could see.  He is such a neat kid and I am so blessed to be his Mamaw.  God definitely knew what he was doing when he chose Hilary and Blaine to be his parents.

Then Tessa.  The key to Tessa is keeping her busy on YOUR terms.  After she demolished her portion of spaghetti, she was batting Gary's 70th birthday balloons around the dining room. I decided to put her to work and make it seem fun. We unloaded the dishwasher and she was in charge of putting the clean silverware into the basket and sorting out what Papaw needed to put away with the other things.  Then we loaded the dishwasher with all of the dirty dishes in the sink.  Next we sneaked out of the house (so the boys wouldn't hear us) and checked the raspberry bushes, which led to her finding Finn crawling in the window of the barn so she hauled him around while we checked out the grape arbor then sat in the gazebo.  When Finn tired of her, he ran back to the barn and she explored.  Hopping from one thing to another - checking on the goats, swinging on the swing, chasing Shadow.  But while she was sitting in the gazebo with me she chatted about school and how much she liked her teacher and who her best friend was now.  Her favorite subject is math. Tessa is a sweetie, and being with her one-on-one is the best for her.

I felt bad about not having the same quality time with Cooper, but I was reminded on the drive into Lafayette this morning that we did have some time together on Monday.  We went into town and I was pointing out the webworms that were appearing on some of the trees and telling him how Grandpa Norm always hated those and tried to get rid of them before they appeared.  Cooper always chats about his favorite thing - anything sports related.  On Monday it was baseball and his team and practices and games. In this respect he really takes after his dad since his mom is not so athletically inclined. He also likes to create things, and I love his enthusiasm when he builds something on his own from his Lego blocks.

I always treasured time with Grandma Greta, and I have so many good memories of days spent at The Farm with her.  I told Landon that I had spent several summers with her and Grandpa, but he was usually on the road in the semi.  I am not sure how many summers I was there with her, but I know the summers after 6th, 7th, and 8th grades I was and maybe even after my freshman year too.  I know I wasn't old enough for a license yet, but she let me drive the big boat of a car that they had to Alliance and back, to Beloit for ice cream, and around the lakes at Westville.  I often wondered why Mom would let me stay with her ALL summer, leaving me after the Memorial Day weekend and picking me up again at the end of July when they returned for a week or so of Dad's vacation.  It occurred to me a couple of years ago that having me stay in Ohio was a good way for her not to have me around day in and day out during the summer time.  All she had to worry about then was Greta.  And I was such a troublesome child.  I do remember being upset when it was time to return to Mt. Vernon and Mom always said it was because I got my own way all the time.  I think it was because Grandma always treated me like she loved me.  

I also know that Megan and Hilary loved spending time with Grammy and Grampy.  They have such wonderful memories of times with them--and they were at their house or the insurance office much more often than I ever was at Grandma Greta's.  

I hope that these days or hours of spending time with the kiddos create great memories for them.  I am not sure that Lynnlee will remember much of clinging to me when she had to leave since she is not quite 3 now.  But I love the moments we have together, and I especially like the one-on-one time with the kids.  Building memories is what it's all about.  And cherishing time with each other is even more special!

And as Gary said...this is why we moved.