My mother called me today to let off steam. The two granddaughters AND my sister (their mom) staying with her. This is week two for the granddaughters. My mom said they behaved better before their momma showed up. Better?
I was there with my daughter this last weekend. The oldest of the two (she is 6) grabbed my mom's cell phone to try and call her mom and when she couldn't figure it out, she hid it. When my dad noticed it missing, she wouldn't fess up to anything and went to bed.
The next morning, when they were eating breakfast, my mom said that she was going to have a contest to see who could find her cell phone. The youngest one picked out the 'prize'...some kind of chocolate treat. Of course, the oldest one 'found' the phone. My mom gave them both the treat. She just shrugged and told me she did what she had to do get the phone back. I was not amused.
A few hours later, my daughter couldn't find her phone! I turned and looked at the oldest niece and said, "We aren't going to have to go on another phone hunt are we?" She just shrugged and said, "I don't know!" and smiled. I picked up my phone, dialed my daughter's and when it started going off, the niece disappeared. We found it under the bed with a pillow over it. I had tried that with my mom's phone the night before but we could not hear it anywhere.
So, later on, when the oldest niece was outside eating a popsicle, I went out and sat down with her while I was painting my nails. We had a nice little talk. She said her sister wanted to stay with Grandma another week. She said that she might forget to come back and get her. I said, "Hhhmmmm...like you forgot where YOU put Grandma's phone?" She looked really shocked...like 'how did you know?' I said, "I know you took it and you hid it...and then you wouldn't tell Grandma where it was. You are lucky that Grandma gave you a prize for giving it back to her. My kids would not have been so lucky becuz I would have punished them. That is Grandma's phone and you do NOT touch other people's property." She finished her popsicle and scampered off. Needless to say, I don't think she'll want to come stay at my house. I gave her a big hug and kiss before we left and she acted surprised at first. I wanted to let her know that while I wasn't happy with what she pulled, I still loved her.
My mom was telling that the youngest one, yesterday, was painting in the basement...like she had done many times the week before and had always put things away...and came out on the patio with a painting to give to her mommy. It was hand prints...and foot prints
Black paint was dried onto the bottom of her feet. My mom said she sat there and envisioned those black paint feet walking across the tiled basement floor, up the carpeted steps, across the carpeted sunroom...out to the tiled patio. She got up and discovered that most of the paint was on the basement tile...all over the basement...lots of black painted tile. And SHE cleaned it all up. My sister didn't.
She finished cleaning that up only to go upstairs and find the nieces jumping on every bed in the house ripping the bedding off. My sister sat in the livingroom reading a magazine. My mom lit into the granddaughters.
You know, I didn't have too much to worry about with my daughter...the worst she ever did was get into my mom's cupboards and get out pudding cups without asking. My son was another matter but he was the kind of sneaker that if he took something he wasn't supposed to, he would put it right back where he got it so no one would be the wiser. AND, I never sat and let him go. I was always checking on him. He still managed a few great messes...there was the time my parents insisted on watching him while they were laying a new vinyl floor in my aunt's bathroom...he went running in and slid across the glue.
Or the time my mom had just finished painting a lovely green textured paint on the front patio...he was walking past and for some reason, just turned and jumped...slid across it on his bottom.
Kids.
