Little Arms

Being a mother and a grandmother is just about the truest form of JOY there is! there is little to compare! when you feel little arms wrap around your neck and give hugs, it is the best blessing one could ever hope for in this crazy, mixed up world! a child's hug warms my heart same as hot cocoa warms the child's little tummy.

my little ones are spread in ages from 5 months up to (almost) 11 years old. it'd be fine with me if i had as many as "the old woman who lived in a shoe." cause unlike that old woman, i DO know what to do. it's usually the simplest things that we have fun with, and it costs next to nothing. you can say a lot about all the electronic gadgets in toy stores...can you really find a toy for kids nowaday that does not require $8 in batteries?!...but the things i amuse the li'l kidlets with require no batteries. the age old fun things like construction paper, crayons, stickers and labels (that are sent free in the mail), paper hats from newspaper, going for a walk, finding fall color leaves, chasing your shadow in the back yard, tossing peanuts and stale crackers out for the birds, and so much more. when the 3 year old says: tv, tv, tv, i just explain that my tv doesn't work well in the daytime...which it doesn't, because it's very seldom ON in the daytime (and not that often in the nighttime either, for that matter.)

we give out hugs generously as needed. i snitch a kiss now and then and whisper in their little ears how much i love them. today, after 3 hours of fun, the 5 year old (while he was sitting on the toilet) called to me, "i am bored at your house now." i shared with him that my children were "not allowed" to tell me they were bored, or i would give them a chore to do (usually go to the back yard and pick up twigs & sticks). little chores are the perfect cure for boredom. so are little grandchildren.