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Thursday, January 26, 2017

Ways Our Grandchildren Delight Us

~~ Vonnie Davis

I think most of us grandmas have little traditions we do with the grandkids, no matter their ages. When distance is involved, we have to be more creative. My one granddaughter and I watch the Miss America Pageant together. She lives in Ohio and I'm in southern Virginia. We text during the event, something we've been doing for years.

My two grown grandsons go to see the latest Bourne movie on the same day as Calvin and I. They're in Indiana. We text about the film afterward. As soon as the movie is available on Blue Ray, Amazon makes a delivery to each of their houses with a copy from Grandma. We do the same thing with James Bond, too. Whenever they come to visit, we do a Bond marathon complete with too many snacks as we repeat the cheezy lines we know by heart.

The Super Bowl has my other grandson (I have four) and me betting and texting and teasing. Whatever team he's for, I'm for the other side whether I truly am, or not. I mean, how else can I get him all riled up? He's in northern Maryland.

Books have been a large part of our tradition, too. When Josh was in Afghanistan, he asked for books of poetry about nature--something he could mentally sink into like Robert Frost and Walt Whitman.

My youngest granddaughter goes to the Maryland School for the Arts. She'll ask for books on music theory.

When Ryan was a toddler, he spent many weekends with me. I began to collect Disney videos. The first was "Bambi." He scrambled off my lap and ran to his drawer in the kitchen where his toys and books were kept, returning with his "Bambi" Golden Book. He followed along with the video on his little book. He was only 14 months old then. It didn't take me long to realize with every video I bought for his enjoyment, I'd have to buy a matching book.

Ryan's a freshman at MIT now. He was chosen to work on an internship with the Bossman Group, doing research on the Mars 2020 Land Rover. He explained what he'd be doing, but I don't speak math or Greek or chemical chit-chat. I just nod with all the grandmotherly wisdom I can fake. He's majoring in Solid Material Engineering with a double minor in Energy Storage and Environmental Science. Ryan's favorite book? I think I've mentioned before it's "The Universe and Dr. Einstein."

He relaxes from a heavy school load by wrestling, a sport he loves. MIT's wrestling squad is flying to Lynchburg this weekend, where we live, to wrestle in an Eastern Collegiate Tournament with 20 other colleges. We'll get to see him and I can't wait. Here's a short video of him at his last match. He's the one with no socks and writing on his singlet, or uniform. And what is that squibbling? Hey, it's MIT...they're math equations.


What traditions do you have with your grandchildren or children?

For more information about me, the writer and not the grandma, visit my website at www.vonniedavis.com.

7 comments:

  1. Vonnie, what a fun grandma you are! I hope you take partial credit for Ryan's brilliance. Reading to children from early on builds their appreciation of learning. Sounds as if all your grandchildren are special and excel at their chosen field.

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    1. Thanks, Caroline. All of the kids are readers, although as a couple approach the big 30, I guess I shouldn't all them kids anymore. But then again...

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  2. As a grandma myself, I enjoyed your post a lot. My granddaughter and I always have a tea party when she comes to our house. We also read books. (I blogged about that last week.) She's just beginning to learn to read herself, so now she picks out words she knows - maybe because she has memorized them from her favorite stories. Thanks for reminding me to look for more traditions as she gets older.

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    1. More importantly, you're making memories. Building a deep trust she will fall back on when she's older. These little traditions become very personal between the two of you. I enjoyed your post last week.

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  3. I don't care how old my kids or grandkids get, they're perpetually children in my eyes. *LOL*

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    1. Oh so true, Joan. I still call them by nicknames I gave them as babies. My 48 year old daughter is still Baby Doll. I could go on and on. LOL

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  4. I loved your post. I'm a very involved grandma, too. Mine are still little but growing up way too fast.

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