We all know that kids are sponges.  I find the 4 different personalities of my grandkids.  I have 3 granddaughters and 1 grandson.  6, 2 ½ and 9 months old.  My grandson is 14 months old.

On the surface there are obvious traits between all of them.  One amazing thing to me is the innate ability for Jack to see a ball and immediately throw it.  When he picks up a car or truck he knows that he is to immediately roll it and make engine noises.  The girls seem to be more nurturing for the most part.

The amazing thing to me is how I see my kids so vividly in my grandkids.  For example, Lily (6) is a mini Megan (my daughter).  Caroline looks like her dad, but about 10 times a day when she is with me, I observe my oldest son Chris.  Jack is extremely laid back, just as his dad was and is.  Maisie, the baby, the verdict is still out on.  She is crawling and standing now.  Give her a month and I’m sure I will see the inherent traits from the previous generation. 

Lily and Jack…….

I have been out of town and yesterday, for a while I had Jack and Lily.  Lily informed me that I need to go buy some big girl toys.  There seems to be nothing for her to do here. 

I take great pride in entertaining these grandkids of mine.  I have everything they need when they stay.  Apparently, I need to update my stash of toys though.  I told Lily that I would give her a tub to take home and she could thin her own toys out and bring some to my house.  She didn’t disagree.  She didn’t seem too on board either though.

We were able to manage without age appropriate toys.  We hid an apple and played hot and cold to find it.  We made chicken for dinner.  She made a cheesecake for her dad.  We made a candle (with granulated wax) for her mom.  She managed to survive the day!

Jack did his ordinary play.  He managed to open and close a screen door about 50 times.  He felt pretty accomplished with that.  He got upset when he climbed into the stove drawer and couldn’t close it while he was in it.  He also got a stack of cups and knocked them around.

At the end of the day.  They were happy with a trip to Dairy Queen for Lily on the way home.  Jack sleeps as soon as you snug him in a car seat.  

When we got them home, Lily showed her parent’s her gifts to them.  When Jack woke up, he refused to be held by either his mom or dad.  He clearly is a Teetah’s (me) boy.  Just like Lily and Caroline.  They would cry upon leaving me. 

We had to play a few rounds of hide and seek for him so that he could be distracted.  He, Lily and his dad were playing with a series of little balls. 

Caroline and Maisie…….

Caroline is extremely bright and strong-willed.  While I was out of town, Megan had one of our cars.  She told me that at one point, Caroline decided that she was going to bring it back to my house.  Megan had to suggest that she eat dinner and rest before she made the drive out.  That apparently worked. 

She, Caroline, also told her mom that I told her that wine was yummy.  After, I thought about where that would have come from, it occurred to me that I have little, throw away wine glasses and I gave her ice water (she doesn’t like to drink water) in it and told her it was a fancy, yummy drink.  Oops.

Maisie is busy making the stride from crawling to standing and soon walking.  Caroline skipped the crawling phase.  I think Maisie is going to keep it short.  She seems to want to stand.  It won't be long before she's on the run.

Here’s my point to all of this.  Grandkids are great.  I love spending time with them.  I am grateful that I am a young grandparent.  It takes a lot of energy.  I am able to revisit my kid’s childhoods through the grandkids.  I am able to spend the time that I didn’t have to spend with my own kids.   I get to see Tim (Timpa) with them.  Since I never saw Tim with his own kids or my own young kids, it’s nice to see how he maneuvers and interacts with them.

Boys and girls naturally have instincts of their own sex.  Boys= noise, trucks, balls.  Girls=dolls, pretend kitchens, etc.  Now don’t blast me and say boys can play with dolls and kitchens and girls can play with ball, and trucks.  I know that and encourage it.  My observation was with very young kids and their tendencies. 

At the end of the day.  I don’t believe that it’s about the toys.  It is all about making the kids feel that they are the most important part of your’ day.  Spending time with them and hoping they learn a trick or two along the way.  And regarding Lily, realizing that she is not a little child anymore.  She’s a big girl who needs big girl toys.

Side note.  I did find her dad’s and uncle’s Play Station 2 and hooked it up for her!