Finding Wonder in the Mundane

Everybody say Hi to our guest poster Grammy! Hi Grammy! More coming soon about why Grammy was babysitting….

Yesterday afternoon Hey You and The Husband needed a helping hand with The Son. I was fortunate enough to be able to oblige.

We began this several hour blessing together at the Huckablogs. After The Son was in his quiet bedroom for an hour, without successfully taking a nap, I took him up and got him a snack of apple slices, which he promptly fed Katy. Then we decided the weather was too pretty to remain inside, so we went out to practice riding his tricycle. This lasted a few minutes and then he hopped off and ran over to his pedal car with a pusher handle in the back, yelling, “Shar, shar”. So we decided maybe we needed a walk around the block.

Again, after only a few minutes, The Son wants to get out of the “Shar”, so I stopped only a few houses away to let him exit. He then wanted to push the car, so we turned around and began heading back to the Huckablog. He was doing fine until we came to a small puddle (around 10 inches at its widest and perhaps 4 feet long), which resulted from the enormous amount of rainfall we’ve had recently.

The day was pleasant, The Son had on his Converse Hightops so I thought no damage could be done, so I slipped off my shoes and wiggled my toes in the water. In no time he got the idea and promptly waded in. Between the exploring every inch of the puddle, which coincidentally expanded as he overflowed it and it ran down the gutter of the street, several times, and feeling under the water for any loose rocks that were once a part of the cemented street we must have spent half an hour at the puddle. In fact I began to be concerned that I didn’t put sunscreen on him.

picture from the last mud day!

Well I finally took his hand and walked him away from the puddle as he showed no sign of tiring with the exploration. After only a short distance, with the car in tow, we came to a real mud hole beside the street, he ran to it and waded in before I could stop him. Thinking this might be beyond the bounds of tolerance for even a grandparent’s permissiveness, I walked him back to the puddle to get the mud off those shoes.

Oak pollen is falling here and makes things green overnight. The Son’s car we’d been walking with was no exception, so I decided that this would be a good opportunity to wash the pollen off the car and the mud off the son. We played carwash! He happily took his plastic cup and bowl from the kitchen and soaped up his little red convertible and then rinsed it off. I managed to get some of the soapy water on his feet too.

After a short nap and fresh clothes and shoes, we moved this adventure to our house where Grandpa, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa occupied him while I cooked dinner and then we ate out back. Still not ready to come inside he explored a great pile of leaves (the closest thing to a mulch pile we have). In spite of all the rain they were not wet on the top six inches or so. I allowed him to climb all the way to the top of the heap where he sat and I showed him how to throw them up in the air and create a leaf storm. He then lay on his tummy spinning the wheel of the upside down wheelbarrow which lay on them.

Proceeding to run around in circles chasing our two dogs, and letting them chase him, he made his way to the front of our house and to Grandpa’s GARAGE, where he visited each of our cars which occupy its domain, in which he is so enthralled, and finally made his way to the toolbench.

Climbing up the stepstool in front of it he inspected some of Grandpa’s tools, as I took them down for him to handle. This did not satisfy the curiosity, so I just sat him on the tool bench where he stood up and began taking each one down and tried to determine its purpose. Its amazing how many he understands already!

By then, we’d made it to the much needed bathtime and came in to have a short video of some Veggie Tales while I undressed him. He made a game out of bathtime with a sliding shower door. A cookie (another Grandparent indulgence) and a glass of milk with a story, prayer and a song was all it took to put down this wondrous, little child who had totally enamored ME all afternoon and evening.

What a blessing to be a grandparent! He reopens my jaded eyes to the wonders of the ordinary.

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