Nana day and other things...

Thursday's are 'Nana' day. This is a red letter day each week because on Thursday, I pick up my sweet granddaughter, Julia and we spend the morning together...just us...no distractions. This week I arrived at Chi and Heathers house and rang the doorbell. I heard a flurry of scrambling and then a boisterously ,"Nana's here"! Even though my day had already been going well, it improved rabidly at the sound of Julia's sweet little voice, eagerly yelling those words.

If I could have my way, I would have 'Nana' day Monday through Friday. One for each grandchild, though technically one of those days would have to be spent with Samantha as grandchild number five hasn't actually hatched yet, but sadly two granddaughters live in Colorado Springs and I only see them every few months and CJ, at just over a year old still only likes Mommy and isn't quite ready for the excitement of 'Nana' day. So, for now, I enjoy my Thursday with Julia and I take consolation in talking to Eden and Autumn on the telephone.

It doesn't matter what you do. Whether you're a doctor or a movie star or a physicist...you feel exponentially more important in the presence of a grandchild. This is probably because they haven't yet learned all the things about you that your children have, so they still adore you and think you are amazing. The good news is that since you are the grandparent and not the parent, they will probably continue to think highly of you as long as you don't screw things up by getting all parental on them.

So I stood on the front porch and heard Julia's impatient anticipation as her mom apparently struggled to get the door unlocked and open it. I knelt down as the door opened and came face to face with a smiling CJ who threw himself into my arms with rocket-like intensity. Julia jumped up and down behind him. "Nana! Nana! It's Nana day! Are we going to spend time together"?

This is how most Nana days start. In the car we discuss what we will be doing and decide that the play room at Burger King will be a good place to start. Julia starts jabbering nonstop, explaining to me that she wants an ice cream but first she will eat her chicken nuggets and apple fries and chocolate milk and that she will hold my hand in the parking lot because she knows all the rules!

After Burger King it is decided that we need to go shopping next and that maybe buying a new outfit would be a good thing. It turns out that Julia has very strong opinions about fashion and shopping took a good bit of time as she dismissed outfit after outfit as unacceptable. When she finally declared that she had found "some good clothes" I suggested she try the jeans on under her dress. She was indignant and informed me that girls didn't try clothes on in the middle of the store, they used a special room, so it was off to the 'special' room where she deemed the outfit a winner and after paring it up with glittery pink tennis shoes we made our purchases and headed home. At home, we decided that our next activity would be sitting on the green, retro glider on the front porch (would I have anything else) and reading Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Eventually, Heather came and retrieved Julia. She was very sad to have to go but I promised that we would have another 'Nana' day next week.

Some may wonder at this entry. There is no sarcasm, no humorous twist to my generally disastrous adventures. Just a blurb about a day with a little three year old girl, and unless you have ever been a 'Nana' spending the day with an adoring three year old granddaughter this will probably seem insignificant, but I can assure you that compared to the many adventures I have had in my life, this is right at the very top of the pile!