A Grand(Kids) Morning!

Joe and Megan did volunteer tree trimming this morning at a local animal shelter while I stayed with Charlotte and Caleb for three hours. The grandkids were up and dressed when Joe dropped me off at 7:45 am.

They fended for themselves for breakfast. Charlotte ate cereal and Caleb opted for half of a bagel with cream cheese. The only rule for today was no video games and a total of one hour of television with a show they both agreed on.

Their first choice was to play games. We started with Uno. I won game one, miraculously. Charlotte won game two. We then moved on to The Floor is Lava (Lava). Lava can best be described as “torture for short-legged grandmas.” Their concession was to place the red, blue, grey, green, and yellow “rock” mats closer together than they normally do. Both of the kids are long-legged, and they can move quickly around the room. The first move landed me on a piece with a question mark on it. I had to jump up and down three times. Do you know the last time I jumped? I can tell you; it was at 8:15am this morning. Truthfully, my feet did not leave the ground, but my chest did. Luckily, I did not knock myself out. The grands knew my spirit was willing!

I ended up winning, The Floor is Lava!

The third game we played was, “Would You Rather?” This was a new game for all three of us, so we made up our own rules. The possibilities were truly disgusting. “Would you rather leave slime trail everywhere you walked or would you rather leave a noxious odor everywhere you walked?” or “Would you rather be inside of a moving  dryer with 5 pairs of cleats or would you rather be inside of a moving dryer with wool blankets stuffed to the top.” We all agreed we’d take our chances with the cleats as opposed to suffocating. I am not sure how this game is actually played; however, our version included  discussion on what we could do to get ourselves out of the situation we chose. Call it problem solving. Caleb won.

Next up was the game Guess Who. Charlotte and I played against Caleb. Caleb won. We played three games. In game two we asked Caleb if his “who” was a bird and he said no. At the end it was a chicken. We told him a chicken is a bird and his response was, “Oh, I thought you meant one of the other birds.” Charlotte noticed this so in game three she asked, “Is your animal any type of bird?” So proud of her for closing the loophole Caleb seemed to think existed. That’s our sharp little Charlotte!

Charlotte played in the family room while Caleb and I played Don’t Break the Ice. Caleb won two out of three games, making him the Ice Breaker King.

By the time we were “gamed” out it was 10:00 am. I suggested we could practice math for a bit. This suggestion was met with a “NO!” Charlotte said, “I don’t like math even though I can do it.” Caleb said, “I like math and I don’t want to do it.” Next week they will begin their home summer math, spelling, and reading sessions with Megan and both kids told me they would get enough math then.

While they watched their hour of television, Sylvie (the Formo Family’s new puppy), Pan, and I went to the family room and took a nap. After a boisterous morning of game playing this was a tired grandma.

The last half hour the kids opted for quiet time in their bedrooms. The dogs sat quietly at my feet while I read. We all survived!