Time in Chicago for me is 100% time with Primrose. Oh, maybe when she sleeps I'll turn my attention to the other members of her family but really -- they are known entities to me. Adults rarely change from month to month, whereas my one year old granddaughter -- she is a tidal wave of movement and transformation! Each time I am here, I discover new stuff about her.
(Primrose, if grandma loves oatmeal with fruit, it follows that you should love oatmeal with fruit too, no?)
When she naps, I eat my own version of more or less the same.
As she continues to sleep, I sit back and consider the past year: it's been huge for the young couple, but, too, for all of us. After all, another child joined the Madison family, my mom moved here from California, and Ed and I shifted somewhat in the way we do things: there is the realization that our small world is already quite full. Whereas in the past, I thought expansively about farmette life -- these days, I'm more content to keep things simple. As they are. No more growing of the flower beds. No huge projects. No new chickens. You could say we're growing, but internally. On the outside, we continue to downsize and declutter our lives.
Girl's up! Hey, little one, would you like to go for a walk?
It's a cool day in Chicago and so on our run to the store to do some errands for the young family, I'm back to bundling up. Aren't I a Polish grandmother after all?
("Is that everything, grandma?")
The store clerk gives her a flower...
("Do I play with it? Smell it? Eat it?")
Definitely time for lunch. Primrose is the only one I know who loves avocado as much as I do. I have a good chunk of one every night. She matches me, eating a whole half as well, in addition to her regular foods.
At this stage, sitting still for books is hard. But who's to say you can't stand and read?
("Grandma, don't you think chickens are overrated?")
She stacks, she makes cars run down a ramp, she bangs, tears, picks, throws, swings. But mostly, she is on the move.
And yet, she is zen like in her stillness when we go out in the stroller. So when grandma needs a break, we go for a walk, this time, to meet up with mom, who will be coming by train from that downtown area over there...
Home now. Primrose's home. Yes, the world feels perfect again. A mom's hand, a final walk to the bedroom...
Me, I take it easy once the girl goes down. The parents fuss, dinner appears, three cakes go in the oven. I listen, quietly enjoying the sounds of family life all around me.
Tomorrow, we celebrate!
(Primrose, if grandma loves oatmeal with fruit, it follows that you should love oatmeal with fruit too, no?)
When she naps, I eat my own version of more or less the same.
As she continues to sleep, I sit back and consider the past year: it's been huge for the young couple, but, too, for all of us. After all, another child joined the Madison family, my mom moved here from California, and Ed and I shifted somewhat in the way we do things: there is the realization that our small world is already quite full. Whereas in the past, I thought expansively about farmette life -- these days, I'm more content to keep things simple. As they are. No more growing of the flower beds. No huge projects. No new chickens. You could say we're growing, but internally. On the outside, we continue to downsize and declutter our lives.
Girl's up! Hey, little one, would you like to go for a walk?
It's a cool day in Chicago and so on our run to the store to do some errands for the young family, I'm back to bundling up. Aren't I a Polish grandmother after all?
("Is that everything, grandma?")
The store clerk gives her a flower...
("Do I play with it? Smell it? Eat it?")
Definitely time for lunch. Primrose is the only one I know who loves avocado as much as I do. I have a good chunk of one every night. She matches me, eating a whole half as well, in addition to her regular foods.
At this stage, sitting still for books is hard. But who's to say you can't stand and read?
("Grandma, don't you think chickens are overrated?")
She stacks, she makes cars run down a ramp, she bangs, tears, picks, throws, swings. But mostly, she is on the move.
And yet, she is zen like in her stillness when we go out in the stroller. So when grandma needs a break, we go for a walk, this time, to meet up with mom, who will be coming by train from that downtown area over there...
Home now. Primrose's home. Yes, the world feels perfect again. A mom's hand, a final walk to the bedroom...
Me, I take it easy once the girl goes down. The parents fuss, dinner appears, three cakes go in the oven. I listen, quietly enjoying the sounds of family life all around me.
Tomorrow, we celebrate!
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