Monday, November 27, 2006

Thanksgiving me a headache!

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for what we have, grateful for friends and family and - to discover what is really precious to us.

Like grandchildren.

My mother gets it into her head that she needs to teach Gillian (age 3) and Sammy Jo (age 3 going on 30) how to play "Candyland."  It was like watching someone herd cats.  Sammy caught on pretty well, her small round mouth turning up into a smile when she got to move "Dora the Explorer" onto a purple square.

Gillian, on the other hand, picked up the monkey, "Boots", and popped him in her mouth.   Mom plucked the plastic footwear-sporting monkey from her grandchild's mouth and replaced him on to the board.  Gillian then went for the unattended "Dora."  This repeated until mom was bouncing on her ottoman in frustration while Gillian continued to draw cards out of sequence and Sammy sat prissily back just relishing being "The Good One."

Finally, it all came to a header.

Literally.

"Gillian, look, hey, Gillian!"  Mom pleaded with her only grandchild to pay attention to the rules, "Gillian, KNOCK, KNOCK!" she tapped her lightly on her tiny, curl-ridden forehead.

Harry erupted into peals of laughter, Summer snorted and I said "GREAT teaching skills, there, Mom!  Is that how they taught you to do it in your Master's Program?"

Gillian smiled at all of us, stuck a card in her mouth and toddled off - she'd had enough "fun" for one day...

My sentiments exactly...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hehe, who'd have kids eh? B. x

Anonymous said...

Ha! Perfect I'm doing Developmental with my students next week & Piaget's Preoperational Stage is not the time to expect them to understand board games! :-) More Concrete Operations 7-11yrs when they start to use logic!  I use examples liek this for Pre-Operational!

Anonymous said...

LOL... very cute... was this how you and your sister were when you were little?

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

To think I loved that game back then....I would have KNOCK KNOCK too..lol..-Raven