My mom is here, spoiling the kids rotten. Her reactions to the kids crack me. And they make me wonder where this woman was when I was growing up. I think mom has been replaced by a gran-robot or alien or something.
Yesterday Lily was in full melt-down mode, which was making my mom sort of frantic. First, the girls decided to have a tea party with the tea set Gran gave Ella for her birthday a few years ago. It has two place settings and a little china doll. As Ella was setting stuff out and bossing Lily about what plates and cups she could use, Lily started sobbing that she wanted a little "doll with braids" to have tea with. My response was to get another doll for Lily and sell it as a "special" doll, which it is. It was my doll when I was a child. Mom's response? She promised Lily she'd take her to the store where she got Ella's and see if she could find another tea set with a little doll. Lily learned a very fast lesson: crying works with Gran.
Thus began an afternoon of tears. I responded as I usually do - I sent Lily to her room to cry and told her she could come out when she was finished. Mom was convinced each time that Lily's heart was just breaking over whatever the issue was. Each time I pointed out that Lily stopped crying about a minute after she went in her room. I also pointed out that despite all the heart-breaking sobs, Lily's eyes were completely dry: not a tear in sight.
Campbell spent the morning here with Gran while I was at school with Lily, helping in her class. Even though I wasn't here to witness goings-on, I'm betting that whatever Campbell wanted, Campbell got. When I cleaned up Campbell's lunch plate, I found remnants of a cookie. And yesterday, Campbell got his third through fifth M&Ms, thanks to Gran.
Right now, Ella is taking up Gran's complete attention, having her help select a shell for her "me" bag for school. I keep thinking I should go rescue mom, but she seems to be having a great time, so I'm busy getting other things done. It's nice to have an extra pair of hands around the house, and an extra person to watch performances and discuss school and read books and procure snacks.
A gran's work of spoiling grandchildren is never done . . .
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