If you give a mouse a cookie...

Most kids know what happens if you give a mouse a cookie. Perhaps nearly as many know what happens if you give a pig a pancake. How many, though, know just what happens if you give a grandma a gift? In particular, if you give a long-distance grandma who's been oh-so lonesome for her grandsons the most heartfelt gift they've ever given?

My grandsons recently learned what happens if you give such a grandma such a gift. And trust me, it wasn't pretty.

First, some back story...

When my oldest grandson, Brayden, was a baby, I managed to see him quite a bit despite him (and his mom and dad) living more than 800 miles away from me. The reason being that Dad attended lots of work conferences in various spots across the country, Mom usually went with him, and Gramma was flown in to babysit Brayden while they were away.

When Brayden's brother Camden was born, the conferencing by Dad and Mom and caretaking by Gramma continued, so I was fortunate to see both Brayden and Camden more often than the average long-distance grandma.

Then along came baby brother Declan. And fewer conferences for Dad and Mom, fewer visits for Gramma on their dime. And my dimes were rather limited, so frequent visits to see my grandsons were whittled down to very few and far between.

So few and far between that I've felt rather disconnected from my dear grandsons for several months now. And feeling oh-so sad that Declan just may not get to know me the way his brothers did, even worse that perhaps his brothers no longer really knew me all that well... and possibly didn't consider nor care for me much due to lack of in-person interaction.

Enter the gift-giving...

Brayden, Camden, Declan, and their parents made a whirlwind trip to Colorado a couple weeks ago. As I shared here last week, they stayed with Gramma and PawDad for forty-four hours on their way back home. I also shared that during their visit they gave me an early birthday gift, my birthday being today.

As Declan presented me with the box they had carted along through Moab, Dillon, Breckenridge and beyond, Megan prefaced the presentation by letting me know the box held a collection of gifts the boys handpicked from Amazon as things that remind them of me.

The box held such sweetness from my sweeties. There was a personalized keychain Cam chose to make up for the one he gave me for Mother's Day that broke (but I glued together and hang as art on my desk). Plus a lovely compact (adorned with a cat!) because I always have a small mirror in my purse... and two cats in my house. And a shiny, silver cross bracelet—with a nifty latch that's simple for me to do with absolutely no help.

And there was this: A "What I Love About Grandma" book...

featuring statements completed by each boy, filled in by Mom and designated with initials as to who said what...

Then signed by all (that's Declan's D in the upper left below).

There were tears as I read...

Ugly-cry tears...

Gargantuan grandma tears that make boys giggle...

Because the bottom line is this: If you give a grandma a gift—particularly a long-distance grandma who feels disconnected from her dearies—be prepared to see her cry.

Especially if the gift is as perfectly precious as this was to me.