My Grandson Is A GENIUS

Parker is a Genius

Nay.... A SUPER Genius

Why eat your breakfast the boring way when you can put your Cheerios and Bananas IN you milk bottle?

Plus you can work on your fine motor skills!

The Name Game

The Naming of the new little Prince or Princess in your life is obviously up to the parent(s).... am I the only one to sweat that out a little bit?
My DD (remember that is the code for Dear Daughter) loves characters.  Movie characters.  Fictional characters.  Disney characters etc... She loves singers and Victoria Secret models.  So when it came time to name her baby I was very curious to see what she would come up.  When she was younger she swore her kids would be named Anakin and Padme (shame on you if you do not 'get' that reference).  She loves Benedict Cumberbatch.  (KKKKHHHHAAAANNNNN)  
The middle name was set in stone--  he was going to be named Jonathon after a childhood friend of hers who had passed away.  At first she leaned toward Dominic.  Dominic is a fine name... if you are living at the Jersey Shore.  
And it would have been fine whatever she decided on.  But I did drop a few hints... just a few... And the winner came thusly: 
 One day we were sitting in the movie theater watching Spiderman while she was pregnant and I leaned over ever so calmly and whispered... "Parker is a cute name"  TAH DAH!!!  That is right my grandson is named after Spiderman.

Hey, it could be worse.... we could have been watching "Thor"

My Grandma

Some posts back I related some negative things that I associate with the word 'Grandma' but of course that was very one-sided as there are many good things I associate with Grandma too.

My maternal grandma was also a single mother for most of her children's lives as her husband died when they were only 8 and 4 years old.  She also moved in with someone to support her and her children (my Great Grandma--- who we all called Grandma Great) and found herself a working mom long before it was common.  When my mom was 16 she remarried and moved to Boron, Ca where the man I knew as Grandpa worked at the Borax mines there.

 When I was a child we often went trailer camping; my family, my grandparents and sometimes aunts and uncles too.  We traveled all over the western US and saw many interesting sights.  My Grandma seemed to know the names of all the plants and flowers and would tell us what everything was.   She would always come to our trailer to see if we were up with a cup of coffee in her hand and calling out "Hoo Hoo".  Grandma made the most amazing Divinity candy which I have never managed to make properly and she taught me all the womanly arts of crochet and sewing and embroidery.  When I came to tell her I was getting a divorce she made it quite clear that The Women of Our Family were strong and proud and I would be just fine.  A stoic woman, my Grandma was.  She was never one for tears and hugs but she imparted that strength to me.  She lived by herself until she was 97 years old and then she knew she could no longer manage and so it fell on me to help her put her affairs in order and find a place to live.  My sister was in charge of medical matters and I handled the financial end of things.   I was good with that.  Thank goodness God gives all different strengths and skills!

She had a beautiful voice and sang in the church choir as long as she was able and I always loved to sit next to her in church so I could hear her sing.  Her Bible was well read and worn and I have it to this day.  When I was to get baptized at 12 years old she decided it was time for her too and so we were baptized together in the baptismal at the old First Baptist Church on Lancaster Blvd-- that would have been in 1974!  She was terrified of the water so this was a BIG step for her.  Suffice to say she passed along the way she lived with dignity and strength.  It has just been two years since she passed away.   She taught us to be flexible because life had a way of turning and there was nothing to do but make the best of things.  She taught us to work hard and not complain.  She taught me that there is something quietly beautiful about creating things with your own hand and that these skills should be passed along and never lost.   I have had no luck at all passing along these arts... but you never know.... maybe Parker will be an artist!!

Kids Programs That Make Me Crazy

I will admit it right up front:  TV is on in our house most of the time.  It isn't always kid shows:  sometimes it is Modern Family or Worst Cooks in America or Teen Wolf.  Sometimes it is the Soundscapes music on cable.  But more often than not it is Sesame Street or the Sprout channel. I have my favorites and I have the ones that skeeve me out pretty bad.

Let's start with the good ones:

The Chica Show--- I am surprised by this but I like Chica.  Sure I miss Kelly (who doesn't?) but Tanesha is fun too.

Kipper The Dog--  Parker and I LOVE the intro song.  We have a special jazz version of the Kipper Song that we dance to..  Okay mostly I dance to it.

Poppy Cat--  Looks just like Malley so I like Poppy Cat

Dislikes:

Caillou-- I really hate Caillou.  I hate the stupid song which is ridiculously self centered.  The whole song is "I'm Caillou, I'm Caillou"  Yeah we know that shut up already.  I do, however, like Gilbert the Cat.

Barney-- I can't believe they are still showing Barney.  Those were made 20+ years ago.  Seriously

Thomas The Tank Engine:  The song gets stuck in my head.  I don't like how all the engines have something cute but the one engine is "Square" .   The engines are scary looking and the premise of the show doesn't really make sense.  They are on an Island?  How did the engines GET ON THE ISLAND?

So, weigh in peoples!  Where do you stand on kids shows?

In Which I Become 'NahNah'

What does your kiddo call you and why?

When I was in the process of becoming a grandmother (aka when my DD was pregnant)  ('DD' stands for 'Dear Daughter' -- that is the cool way to 'say' it)  I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what I wanted to be called.

I didn't like Grandma----  Grandma conjures up a picture of my mother (not an especially good picture mind you).   'Grandmas' are really really old.  They are not stylish.  They take their teeth out at night and half the time forget to put them back it which is instantly like talking to a hillbilly. And not in a good way.  Grandmas have make up so old it has turned to dust.    

 Granny?  PULEASE!

I looked at Mimi and Lala and Meema, Nanny, Noni, Oma etc...  But since I knew I was going to be a hybrid mom/grandma I didn't want to be called something that he would confuse with Mommy.

What I really wanted was to have him call me 'Yoda'  but that met with a lot of opposition

(That one yet I like....  hmmmm  Yes!  Time there is for young padwan to change his mind)

By the time he came along I hadn't settled on anything and so started out calling myself Grandma but it kinda stuck in my throat every time and felt so weird!!  At some point he started calling me NahNah... not Nana, but with the AH sound.  And that kinda stuck.  Which is so often the case--- the One Who Is In Charge makes the decision for you! (But still... hope springs eternal... Yoda... <sigh>)

SO my peeps:  What is your Mommy / Grandma name and how did you get it?

By the way--- it isn't weird to play with your grandchild using a cat toy, is it?