Cherokee Sage Woman

I'm getting to play fulltime Grandma this week.. my daughter's children from Atlanta, are here on their fall break. There's nothing like a 9 yr old boy & a 6 yr yr old girl, to bring your reality into focus. Kids see through it all, folks. They don't take wooden nickels, or excuses. And that's part of their charm.
We've worked out a nice routine to our days..
Gummi Bears for breakfast (because they're shaped like food, or else I wouldn't have bought into it, right?)
Then a little Higgly Family on Nick-TV. The characters are wearing, but the tunes are catchy.. long into the night, sometimes.
Then it's time for 'Happy Family', an improv game w/ about 1/2 dozen Barbies, who always maintain the personalities & names assigned to them. (God help you if they don't!) And also some various GI Joes & local heroes like firemen & polizei. They tend to be in & out of the Barbie's (aka Nina, Selena, Lisa, Cindy, Josie,Belinda, et al) lives, depending on how the gals feel about going solo, or needing dates for the prom. Going solo means they qualify to be in a 'Friend's Forever' TV reality show, as spies. But then there's that damned prom that requires smooching dates. It's a quandry.. much like real life.
And when Yanna allows Alec to play, you can be sure it will involve gunplay as well. Those GI Joes don't carry weapons for naught. And I have to agree w/ him, there are times when just spraying the gaggle of girls w/ machine gun fire, simply makes sense. Wipe them out, stop the bickering, the in-fighting over fashion-wear & start over..
Easy fix.
But the gals keep reincarnating as their same selves, same problems, same dates. Sigh..
After that high drama, it's usually lunchtime. Chips & dips covers how many food groups? Gatorade gives all the daily required vitamins, right?
Then we go on a field trip.. sometimes to the $ store (which takes 1/2 hr of driving thru the forest), sometimes to a local attraction. Tomorrrow we will go to a fall festival where the kids will pan for gold!
As the afternoon wears on, we play marathon bingo games, mancala games, or we draw. Alec reads a lot.
In the evening, we watch Who Wants to be a Millionaire, & they show me up by picking the correct answers 90% of the time. By 8:30, we're winding down, & it's time to watch a movie, all piled in bed together. Those are my favorite times. The kids share their dreams, hopes, ideals, fears, & just all around 'talk' while we lay there 1/2 watching the flick.
While they've been here, I've been able to play 'Tooth Fairy' TWICE, and nurse maid for some flu. And people, it's not like I thought when I was just 'Mom', (just added responsibility & work).. now, it's a 'privilege' when Grandma gets to have a hands-on experience. And I'll be missing it, when it's over..