My beautiful granddaughter who is four and a half, said to me, "Grandma, I like your earrings." To which I replied, "Thank you, you gave them to me for Christmas." She smiled and said, "I have more jewelry than you." Knowing this was a contest that I didn't want to enter, it was easy to give in, "You win." My reward was her giggles and her beautiful smile. This exchange comes from a girly girl who loves anything that sparkles so when she visits me, she also requires a visit to my jewelry case. After a long career and changing accessories every day, I accumulated too many pieces of costume jewelry which is what she finds when she plays in my jewelry case. She doesn't know that the good stuff is locked away and she will get it in my will. She is still at the stage that "more is better" so she insists on wearing five necklaces, three rings, and four bracelets. Now that I consider, I know some people who can top that. We take pictures of her modeling my jewelry, and she likes to pose like a grownup model. It makes me wonder how little girls pick up that yen for glamor. I didn't raise a girl, I raised a boy so I missed the madness for pink and the shopaholic genes. I firmly believe the love of shoes is imprinted on female DNA.
After the ceremony of playing with the jewelry, she is finished with it and takes it off. It gets in the way of other stuff she wants to do. She and I bond over jewelry, baking cookies, and a dozen other routines that she loves when she visits. We play the piano, climb the spiral stairs a few times, and Go Fish is very popular. I taught her how to play Tic Tac Toe, which I just can't bring myself to win.I have a favorite chair where I read and have a cup of tea so that is what we do in that chair. We read about Clifford and drink water from cups. Ceremonies are very important to little ones. They watch every action of adults and religiously imitate the ones they like. She liked my compact digital camera so I taught her how to use it. I am always amazed to see how children are like little sponges. When she takes pictures, I print them so she has copies and can see how she progresses to improve her technique. After practicing for several months, she takes really good pictures. This is my favorite--her own composition and idea. Holding the camera still is her greatest challenge which she solved by putting the camera on a table to take a picture of herself. I like to think of her as "twinkles" with the smile in those eyes.
When I was young, I did not have grandparents still living to visit and play with me. When becoming a grandparent, I had no prior models or "know how" in the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. I remember one thing that I liked about a neighborhood lady when I was small. When I talked, she listened, and she always asked questions. We had conversations that made me feel important and grownup, so that was my model. When I became a parent, I read that a parent is successful if they read to a child and play ball with them. I figured it can't be that simple, but it is a good start. So as a grandparent, the relationship rule of the day is lots of attention, read, play kickball, and have conversations. A lot of baking is also in our future.
