I had wanted to have this ritual be a “Nana-Addie” thing but I could NOT exclude my precious grandson, Landon. Therefore PaPa also came to enjoy the day.
There were too many things going on in December so we couldn’t go see Trees of Christmas at Cheekwood until after school was out for Christmas. Of course the usual bribery was if they were good, then they could go to Phillips Toy Mart. They were great – there isn’t too much to the Trees as it was when our boys were young. Only florists and designers do the trees in the mansion now so there are just 6 or 7 trees to see. We blew through those pretty quickly. We did visit the Train exhibit again which they enjoyed. Lunch in the Pineapple Room was fairly uneventful. They wanted to play games on Nana’s phone, but Nana’s phone is in the dark ages and doesn’t have games. They were good.
As they were “angelic”, they of course were taken to Phillips Toy Mart. Mike (since around 1956 when Phillips was on 8th Avenue) and our boys have been going to Phillips since they were little boys, so it is a tradition in our family. The deal was to get one small thing as a reward for being good. We circle the store many times. Addie dusting her fingers along most everything in the store. Landon wants everything he picks up. Addie finally decides on a “Play” mop. Landon picks out a ball. When we get in the looooong line to pay, somehow Landon shows up with 2 things. I tell him he can only have one thing. “Noooooo.” I said, “You have to choose one thing.” He says “I choose not to”. Sounds like a lawyer?:) Then Addie starts in – why does he get 2 things and I only get one? Well, if you have ever been to Phillips – once you are in line you better be ready to check out. Risking a total meltdown of not only one but 2 grandchildren – we hurriedly get Addie another item to be able to GET.OUT.OF.THERE! Hey, we’re Grandparents, we don’t have to worry about spoiling them. That’s what we’re there for!
We come home for a fun afternoon and spending the night. We have 2 inches of water on the floor for most of the day. Addie’s mop didn’t come with a wringer. Later Landon is scribbling on paper and brings it to me to read. I make up some crazy word that it says and he’s thrilled. Addie gets the drift and starts doing the same thing. After a point, she actually starts writing things for me to read. One of her pages she brings in says “Landon is a brat”. I express my displeasure that she is calling him that but also remind her that she should be writing the same thing about herself too. She goes into the other room, writes her sentence for me to read. She comes back and it says, “Addie is a Princess”. Too funny! They keep us in stitches, on our toes and we love every second of it! Another day(s) in paradise with our Grandchildren!
