An Ember Day

I'm at Em's today. (She's the child in the slide show to the right.) It's been a tough morning for this 2-year-old granddaughter of mine. She got so frustrated and p*ssed with me that she said, "Gama, you naughty. Time out for you!" All this because I refused to turn on the TV. I'm not a big proponent of TV for children. Pretty much I think it rots their brains and makes them dependent on being entertained rather than learning to entertain themselves. That's not to say I don't allow Em to watch TV when I'm caring for her. It means I very carefully pick and choose what she watches and for how long. Those are the keys: content and time.

Ember has little interest in Sesame Street, and I think I know why. It's boring; maybe she's not old enought for it yet. She is quite fond of the stuff coming out of Noggin (Nick Jr.). During the weekdays, that network has advertisement-free program for pre-schoolers, and it's pretty good programming. Even so, it's TV and it entertains them, even if teaching a lesson or a moral, and that means Em's brain is pretty much in "off" when watching it.

"Hewwo... Gama." Em's down for a nap only it's not taking so she's reaching out to me. Her bedroom is in the back of the house with the door closed. Hence, they still use a baby monitor. It allows us to eavesdrop on all she says and does. She's run through her numbers -- counting from 1 to 15 -- quite a few times. I've heard the ABCs a couple of times as well as a rendition of "Tinkle tinkle widdle stahh," as only a 2-year-old can sing. Interspersed with the entertainment is her calling me. "Gamaaaaaa. I neeeedddd you." "Gama, I yuv you." "Gama?" "Gaaaaaamaaaa."

A grandmother who is also a caregiver doesn't have the prerogative of being an old-fashioned grandma who loves and spoils at the same time. Two days a week I spend eight to nine hours a day with Em. I would kill for her without compunction, and I love her with all my heart and soul, but I can't spend just two hours with her going to the park or for ice cream and then drop her back home. I have to introduce and reinforce what I and others are teaching her, such as: counting, letters, music, sharing, listening, being nice to the animals, saying please and thank you, not running into the street, controlling herself when she's angry, washing hands before eating and brushing teeth after. We dance, we use chalk, we paint, we read, we sing, we play with blocks, we play with her dollhouse. We play in the snow. We run around and get tired so she'll nap (seems it didn't work today!! lol).

It's wonderful; it's fun. But some days it is soooo tiring and downright boring. Parenting is for the young, and at 58 years of age, I am not in that category. Would I change it if I could? No. Well, I wouldn't mind leaving for home at 3 PM instead of 4, but that's all I'd change.

Life changes - I loved, taught and raised my son. I am helping to do the same thing with his daughtger. Again, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This time, though, I feel I'm being given a second chance to do right what I think I did wrong with my son.