Picture this: Reason No.143 why I love libraries

Despite having shelves upon shelves of books of their own, the treasures Bubby and Mac brought home from the library Monday kept them content and quiet while Gramma made dinner.

Mac and Bubby engrossed in their library books — April 22, 2013

Today's question:

What did you last borrow from the library?

Tie-dye for tots... and older kids, too

My youngest grandson, Mac, doesn't have the penchant for craft-making that his older brother does. Bubby's attention span can handle a craft that has, say, six or eight steps, knowing there's a grand payoff at the end. Mac, on the other hand — because he's younger and always on the go, go, go — can handle a craft with one quarter that number of steps, and instant payoff of some sort is key.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), finding a craft that pleases both can be a challenge. This one, though — a tie-dye project of sorts — was a success. Mac created one or two and was done; Bubby made one after another until the food coloring bottles were nearly empty. Yes, success!

What you need:

• Coffee filters

• Food coloring

• Clothes pins (or large metal binder clips or large paper clips)

• Paper plates or newspaper — or both — for protecting the crafting surface

What you do:

This craft can be done indoors, but I chose to do it outside to take advantage of the desert weather. Warning: Don't do this outside if there's even the slightest breeze.

Flatten out a few coffee filters per child. Then fold in half and half again and half again, to create a long triangle or sorts. For each child, attach a clothespin to a folded coffee filter, to not only hold the coffee filter closed, but to create a handle for the child to hold the filter without ending up with technicolor hands.

Holding the filter over the paper plate or covered surface, have child carefully squeeze drips of color onto the filter, covering both sides of filter as desired.

Once the child has added all the color he'd like, an adult (again, to prevent colored hands on the child, at least to some degree) should carefully remove the filter and open it up, placing it to dry on the paper plate while a new filter is added to the clothes pin and a new creation started.

Allow the filters to dry completely, then display as desired. Bubby and Mac chose to hang all theirs on their family room window, which created a bit of a stained-glass effect they were quite proud of.

A fast, cheap and easy craft for kiddos with short or long attention spans — and for grandmas and others who claim they're not crafty (you know who you are!).

Today's question:

What did you most recently use food coloring for?

Don't speak: When silence refreshes relationship between Mom and Grandma

My daughter recently emailed me the ticket confirmation for my next visit to the desert. The trip is set for the latter part of April.

I, of course, must work to contain my excitement and anticipation as I look forward to soon spending ten days with my grandsons.

I also look forward — sans the fanfare and excitement, I admit — to the days after the trip, the days when I’ve returned home and my daughter won’t be speaking to me.

Yes, when I get back from that trip, I’m sure my daughter won’t speak to me. Which will be okay, though, for I surely won’t speak to her, either.

That may seem odd, considering I have no doubt we’ll have a delightful time in April. The first few days of the visit will be spent with my daughter, son-in-law and my precious grandsons. Then I’ll have nearly a week of serving as sole caretaker of Bubby and Mac, as Megan accompanies Preston for an out-of-state conference. Then Megan and Preston will return home, and we’ll have even more time together.

That time together is precisely why my daughter and I won’t be speaking afterward.

You see, somewhere along the line of my daughter becoming “Mommy” and me becoming “Gramma,” we fell into the habit of not calling, texting, e-mailing or connecting in pretty much any way whatsoever for a few days after extended visits with one other.

We didn’t plan such a tack; it happened naturally. It’s a natural progression of the ways our roles and connection to one another have changed. And it’s been a boon to our relationship.

My daughter and I thrive on the times the miles that typically separate us geographically are erased, and we strengthen our connection with hours upon hours of real face time. We come together with much to share about our jobs, hobbies, anxieties, accomplishments, family updates and hopes for the future. And, of course, there’s always much to discuss about her children, my grandchildren — how to care for them, grow them, love them best.

We share it all, accompanied by hugs, laughs, tears, good times. Intense times that can be exhausting — in fulfilling ways. Eventually, we've filled up the nooks and crannies of our hearts and souls, the spots that often feel empty when loved ones live far away.

Then, as luck would have it, that’s usually about the time the visit is over. So we separate. And we stop talking.

The mother/daughter relationship is one of those tangled webs we unwittingly weave. The web only grows tighter, more tangled, the more time we spend together, especially when we’re used to having our own space, our own place. It takes time to untangle, to return to our separate realities.

After a few days, we'll little by little start conversing again. By text, by phone, maybe through email. Now that I have FaceTime on my iPhone, it may just even happen in a pseudo face-to-face this time.

However it happens, it happens naturally. More importantly, it happens to work — for us and for our relationship.

Today's question:

How often do you communicate with your children — in person, by text, by phone, etcetera?

Ivory Soap + microwave + kids = unexpected fun

More than six months ago, I pinned this interesting pin on Pinterest, figuring I'd one day try it with my grandsons—crafting with Ivory soap that had been heated in the microwave. It may sound odd, but it looked like good, clean (plus cheap and easy) fun.

I decided we'd finally give it a shot during my recent stay with Bubby and Mac, so I packed several bars of Ivory Soap for the trip. I was right about it being good, cheap, easy fun. The clean? Well, surprising as it may seem, this was one of the messier projects I'd done with the boys. More on that later, though, after you see how much fun we had, regardless of the mess.

What you need:

• One bar of Ivory Soap

• A microwave

• A smidgen of water

• Cookie cutters (optional)

What you do:

Unwrap the bar of soap and place on as large a microwavable platter or paper plate as will fit in your microwave.

Put the plate with soap in the microwave, turn the timer to about 5 minutes (knowing you'll likely stop it before time's up), hit Start, then watch the magic!

The bar of soap will expand and puff up into a nearly basketball-sized chunk of fun. As it gets bigger and bigger, stop the microwave as the soap becomes large enough to soon touch the walls or top of the microwave interior. (This is about 3-5 minutes, depending on your microwave.)

Using hot pads, remove the soap from the microwave. It will be hot but cools quickly.

Allow the kids to marvel at it.

Once the soap has cooled completely (beware the center as unpuffed remains of the bar of soap will be hot), have the kids tear it into pieces and place in a large bowl.

Add a small amount of water—about 1/8 cup, a little at a time—then mix and mix and mix with a wooden spoon until the chunks are relatively smooth and about the consistency of Play-Doh.

Divide the mixture between the kids (I put it on paper plates in hopes of containing the mess). Let them have at it, enjoying the texture and shaping as desired.

Bubby loved the soapy surprise:

Mac loved it, too (though I did have to make sure he didn't taste it):

Pressing the mixture into cookie cutters is an option, too, one we opted for the second time we did this, when we just had to show Mommy and Daddy how cool it was.

Whether made free form or pressed into cookie cutters, let the shapes dry and harden for about a day. Once hard and dry, they provide another round of fun at bath time.

As I mentioned at the outset, you may think this would be a clean project, considering it's just soap. It is...until you start breaking the chunk of soap apart and it flakes and creates white soap specks everywhere.

The first time I did this with my grandsons, it was a pretty big mess. Washing up the soap flakes turned them into lathery streaks that took several washings. Plus, spots the boys touched were marked with hard chunks of soap—chair backs, their clothes, even Mac's ear that he had scratched mid-molding.

The second time we did this, though, I was more determined to contain the flakes and powder from the soap. It made for a cheap, easy, relatively clean, and unexpectedly good time.

This post linked to Grandparents Say It Saturday.

Today's question:

What did you most recently use your microwave for?

The flu and what I didn't do

I have a tendency to think rules and statistics don't apply to me. Not because I consider myself above others, but simply because I prefer to be an optimist and assume good things will happen, not bad.

Most times such positive thinking yields benefits. Recently, though, such positive thinking left me laid up and sick as a dog.

(Quick aside: As I pet my dogs yesterday morning while in my sickly state, I pondered that phrase, as my dogs are never sick. The phrase makes no sense.)

Anyway, what happened is this: For quite some time, I had it on my calendar to go visit Bubby and Mac at the end of January. Then, days before my visit, Bubby was confirmed as having the flu, and it was highly likely Mac would come down with it, too. The question arose regarding if I should cancel the trip, considering my MS and what exposure to the flu might do.

I chose to visit them anyway. I assured my daughter—their mother—there was no need to worry because I'd be just fine. And when Mac avoided the flu but came down with bronchiolitis during my visit, I again assured my daughter I'd be just fine.

And I was fine—while I was there. The day after I returned home, though, the super bugs from those little boys settled in, leaving me, well, sick as a dog.

So yesterday, in my sick-as-a-dog state, what did I do? Well, of all the things I should have done, here is what I didn't do:

• I didn't walk my dogs.

• I didn't write the book reviews I need to write.

• I didn't comment on the blogs I should have.

• I didn't complete three articles I was on deadline to write.

• I didn't shower until 4 p.m. (Though I did brush my teeth.)

• I didn't put on makeup nor do my hair after that shower.

• I didn't email sources for an article I need to write.

• I didn't respond to the gazillion emails I should have responded to.

• I didn't write the half-gazillion emails I should have written.

• I didn't read.

• I didn't write.

• I didn't even listen to any music.

What did I do?

I sat on the couch, wrapped up in an afghan with one of my cats, each of my (non-sick) dogs on their beds nearby and watched episode after episode of Downton Abbey—a show whose spell I didn't think I'd fall under but figured I'd see what all the hoopla is about.

What did I learn?

I learned that the rules and statistics do apply to me. Especially when it comes to catching the flu. Doubly that when it comes to being charmed by Downton Abbey.

(Though I've yet to learn why 'sick as a dog' is an acceptable phrase.)

photo: Marin-FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today's question:

When were you last sick as a dog?

Photo replay: Breathing easy ... sort of

Mac was prescribed several days of breathing treatments for his bronchiolitis, diagnosed during my visit last week. Here he has his first treatment, giving Mommy the thumbs up that he's doing okay with "Dino," the breathing mask. Only thing: Sweet guy's not yet got the thumbs-up gesture figured out.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Park and ride

The weather was cruddy during the majority of my visit to see my grandsons, bordering on monsoon conditions at times. Add to that the fact that Bubby and Mac were sick most of the time—Bubby recuperating from the flu and Mac flirting with the flu while dealing with full-blown bronchiolitis, as well—and it's clear why Gramma didn't get to play outside with her grandsons much in the past week.

My last full day there, though, the weather warmed up nicely and the boys felt better than they had since my arrival. We seized the opportunity to relieve our cabin fever by heading to the park just down the street—with Bubby leading the way on his first ride there without training wheels on his bike.

I was a little nervous at first, allowing my four-year-old grandson to ride his bike on the sidewalk. A sidewalk right next to the street. A street on which vehicles drive. And a street we needed to cross in order to get to the park.

Bubby did fantastic, though. He experienced nary a wobble along the way, and once at the park, my grandson relished the freedom—and pride in oneself—that only a training wheel-less bike can provide.

I'm so impressed with Bubby's riding skills. He is four years old, turning five in June. I don't remember exactly when my daughters learned to ride a bike, but I'm positive it wasn't at four. (I don't think they even had a bike at four!)

As Bubby said at the end of the video above: "This video is great!" It is exactly that, because he's such a great bicyclist.

Adding to the greatness is Mac's little voice saying "Gramma" in the background. You heard that, right? And Mac's achievement for the day: He went down the twirly slide all by himself for the very first time while we were there. And the second time, third time, and fourth time, too.

I'm telling ya, my grandsons are athletic superstars—even when not on their A-game and still recovering from the flu.

Today's question:

Who taught you to ride a bicycle?