Into the whirlwind

May 16, 2008 by Barbara.

Reid and I were awake much earlier than I’d expected (or wanted, to be perfectly honest) on Friday. She showed no ill effects of her tummy trouble on Thursday. We had a nice visit with Grandma Joyce. Uncle Roger came over at breakfast and Aunt Karin came for a quick visit before work as well. Ken woke early, too, and was (luckily) playing outside with Reid when Uncle Roger told her not to move upturned ashtrays in the grass as they marked the spots where Grandma Joyce’s new trees - the ones we bought for her for Mother’s Day - were to be planted.

Grandma Joyce and I went to “Other Pam’s” to have our hair done and Reid stayed behind. After a while, Reid and Uncle Roger went to his house. They had a “snack” of apples, cheese, apricots, cucumbers and pickles and played with Max doggy and jumped on the trampoline. Meanwhile, some nice young men knocked on Grandma Joyce’s door to ask where they were supposed to plant the trees. Ken, happy to have an answer, helped them find the ash trays. I think he might have said bad words under his breath at not having been given direct information or maybe he is used to operating with less than optimal information.

Uncle Chris joined us for lunch. It’s so nice to be in Wheatley, where people can stop in for lunch. I often wonder whether we’d see as many people if we lived closer but Uncle Chris goes to Grandma Joyce’s house quite often. I could track him down there. Afterward, I took Reid for her nap but no sooner had I lay Reid in the playpen that Grandma Joyce has for Zachary to sleep in than Aunt Pam arrived. Ken came in for a before-nap kiss and offered to stay. When they emerged a couple of hours later, Reid was groggy from a hard-fought and ultimately futile battle against her nap. She was reluctant to talk to Aunt Pam but asked instead to go to Dylan’s grandparents’ farm to check out the babysitting venue for Saturday. Aunt Pam, thankfully, was not offended.

Once at Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jerry’s (how else to refer to adults of this sort?) farm, Reid’s expectations were met and more. She climbed on a few of the tractors in the shed, perhaps enjoying the lawn tractor the most, and tried out some of the toys that were on the other side of the shed. Dylan and Reid climbed into a wagon and Zachary gave pulling it his best effort. Melissa tried to convince Zach to push instead of pull. He wasn’t interested. She was able to convince him to join the others for a ride and off they went. On the way back, they stopped to play in a turtle-shaped sandbox. We checked out the house and then we left, with Reid protesting. I thought that leaving with Reid longing to stay was a good way to ensure that she wouldn’t object to staying there while Ken and I went to Brianna and George’s wedding.

Aunt Lisa and Brock were at Grandma Joyce’s house when we returned. We sat outside and watched the kids play basketball in the drive way. Reid found a piece of sidewalk chalk and set to work writing her own name, for the very first time. The “r” was a bit free-form and the “e” was a capital and reversed but the letters were all there. I was quite impressed. Aunt Lisa had to leave after a short while to run an errand but we invited Brock to stay. He accepted and Reid was pleased. She thinks he is a very special guy. She is right. We played for a long time in the hot tub, trying out the new animal-shaped squirt bottles that I bought at the Dollar Store last week. I had only a rubber ducky with which to defend myself. In addition to being better armed, they worked together. There is no loyalty to adults in a kids’ world, I guess. Later, they ran around outside, often with Reid trailing after Brock. He is much more tolerant of Reid than some 8.5 year old boys would be.

After supper, we went back outside to play until Ken called us in for bed. Reid had asked that we bring the toddler bed upstairs for her to use instead of the playpen. She even laid in it for a while before asking to join me in the big bed. She cried a bit and said that she would miss Grandma Joyce and everyone when we were back in Ottawa. I reminded her that she would be staying for a whole week. After a bit of time had passed and after we had talked about other things, Reid reported sadly that she missed her daycare friends. I suggested that we could say “goodnight” to them and that they would dream about her, since THEY were all already asleep. Reid decided that she mostly missed the people that sat at the circle table. I know their names and so was able to lead Reid in the “good nights” to each of the kids who share the table and closest cubbies with Reid. Ken popped his head in to see if I would be able to come out to visit. He pulled his head back out when he saw that Reid was still awake. In the end, I think I may have fallen asleep before Reid.

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