THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 122
JUNE 2018
Dear Readers,
I spent Mother's day in Orlando with
Leslee-Ann, Craig and Ray. I flew with Southwest where you are
issued a boarding pass that guarantees you a seat- unlike my recent
experience with Delta as you may recall from my last well read
newsletter children!
Leslee-Ann met me at the airport and
on the way home we stopped by Ray's daycare to pick him up. I thought
he might be upset to see Grandma instead of Josh but he was fine with
me. As soon as I walked into the guest bedroom I noticed that the
bureau was gone and that a wooden desk had replaced it. I immediately
wondered if the Remsburgs were trying to entice Josh to spend more
time with them by providing him with the same sort of set up that I
have for him in my house. He had just spent the last three weeks with
them and is beloved by Ray, just like Ava Claire and Owen, as he is
willing to play with them for hours. There was also a bench at the
end of the bed – was that for Josh to rest his feet on when they
hung off the bed I wondered? I do not have one of those - yet.
I had bought a book and a container of
plastic fish for Ray to play with in the water play table I had
shipped to him for his second birthday a month ago – I figured he
was probably bored with the existing toys that came with it. Outside
I saw that Josh had built a playground area for him with rubber
mulch so he would have a soft landing if he fell off his fort – it
used to be on the concrete patio. Soon their huge screen enclosed
patio will be demolished to make way for a pool. For many years they
have used their neighbor Eileen's in exchange for maintaining it
while she was traveling many months of the year but she has sold the
house and moved to a maintenance free condo.
On Friday morning Leslee -Ann, Ray and
I headed to the children's science museum (Craig had to work) and I
was very impressed with this facility, there were so many creative
hands on activities that had Ray flitting from one to the next. He
does seem to have a rather short attention span for things! We ate
lunch at a nearby Wendy's and then headed home for Ray's nap time. He
is now sleeping in a toddler bed and he very much appreciates the
freedom it allows him to get out of bed whenever he chooses – he
has become a a frequent middle of the night visitor to his parents
bedroom where he sleeps until morning as they would rather sleep than
spend half the night trying to get him back in his own bed. I do
remember in his first two years how well he slept for twelve hours in
his crib with never a sound and Leslee-Ann would say how important it
was to get your child into a routine that would not lead to sleeping
in their parent's bed....... of course she slept with her parents
until she was three!
Unfortunately the house rules are still
in place for visitor's, no flushing the toilet when Ray is sleeping,
no sounds to be emitted from cell phones or Ipads – how I am
suppose to know when it's my turn to play Words with Friends when I
don't hear a ding? Only talk in whispers, lip read when watching
television and remove your shoes if they make unacceptable noise as
you tiptoe around the house. Maybe carpeting instead of hardwoods
would have better a better flooring choice!
Saturday Craig had to spend the entire
day and evening shooting three performances of Disney on Ice so that
they could use the best shots for their advertising. Leslee-Ann and I
did some shopping – I picked up a bubble machine and a bubble
blowing dinosaur for Ray which we had to set up out on his new play
area as the screened in patio's concrete floor became very slippery
as hundreds of soapy bubbles landed on it. By day two of his new toy
he was more into switching it on and off than trying to catch
bubbles!
We spent Sunday at Sea World and
thankfully the weather was perfect for strolling around all the
exhibits. In just a couple of days Ray had deduced that Grandma was
the weak link in the chain of command and when his parents were not
keen to revisit the dolphins he grabbed Grandma's hand and led me
back to them. He knew the way thank goodness as I have no sense of
direction.
We braved the sub -zero temperature of
the enormous penguin exhibit which had me wishing I had a jacket to
stave off the cold. I gave thanks for my insulating blubber which was
all that kept me from waddling out of the exhibit immediately!
It was fun to watch people feeding
stinky fish to the seals as they risked their fingers every time an
aggressive bird tried to nab the fish in their hand before it slid
down the seals throat! One girl got pecked by a bird and her mother
was contemplating whether a trip to the ER was advisable! I would
have hustled that child to the park's first aid camp and hoped they
would be so worried about a lawsuit that a full refund and annual
pass for life would be offered!
We really lucked out with a group of
flamingos enjoying their daily stroll. We were able to get really
close to them and even walked along with them. I found it interesting
that the flamingos look more orange than pink, or maybe it was just
this species.
There were enormous roller coaster
rides , watching people flying by upside down is not good for my
stomach. I was thrilled to learn that Leslee-Ann and Craig both felt
so sick the last time they rode one that they have no interest in
doing so again – they used to be such an adventurous, fun loving
couple! They are turning into old farts like mother.
Craig was thoroughly enjoying Sea
World, possibly even more so than Ray, and as we happened to be
walking right by the killer whale show just as it was starting he
decided it was a must see. Craig selected seats in the arena clearly
marked splash zone albeit several rows back from the front. He
claimed that there was no way we were going to be drenched all the
way back there. Water is not Ray's thing: he is the only toddler I
have ever known who has to be coaxed to play in water and he
certainly does not want to be unexpectedly showered with it. Ray was
enjoying the show until a whale of a wave hit our seats and Ray
wailed! He was traumatized and all his father could do was to say
“did you see his face when that water hit?” “It was so funny”.
Leslee-Ann and I were not amused. Craig protested that he had
honestly believed we were sitting too far back for the water to hit
us. We dripped our way around the park stopping at an ice ice-cream
parlor to help Ray recover – he loves to eat, he seems to snack
continuously to me but he always has a good appetite at mealtimes. He
must have a great metabolism. Craig worked hard to to redeem himself
with Leslee-Ann and me, cooking a delicious dinner for Mother's Day
and presenting us with a box of chocolate covered strawberries for
desert along with a cake that Ray had decorated at daycare earlier in
the week.
On Monday I returned home anxious to
plant my Canna and Dahlia bulbs which I usually plant the previous
month but the unusually cold spring delayed all my plantings and so I
had to catch up just as we went into an unseasonable heat wave of
horrific temperatures and humidity. The weather has not co-operated
with my gardening needs this year.
Ava Claire according to her mother,
the professional child psychologist, suffers from separation
anxiety. This means that when she can not see her parents at large
gatherings like pre-school programs she is apt to burst into tears
until rescued by a parent. With this in mind I wondered how I might
be able to avoid having this happen at her upcoming dance recital
being held in the small town of Harrisonville, south of Lee's Summit,
an hours drive away for me. I decided that I didn't want to make the
trip just to watch Ava Claire dissolve into tears without performing
a step of her routine so Grandma ( who feels that raising eight
children qualifies her as a child psychologist too ) decided that
offering five dollars for performing without a tear – a positive
method of motivation, definitely not a bribe, might just work and it
did. Ava Claire looked adorable twirling around the stage with about
a dozen other girls in their cute and outrageously expensive
costumes– most of them doing their own interpretive dance rather
than the routine they had been practicing for months ! I was so glad
that a meltdown had been avoided. In fact I would have patted myself
on the back if my arms still had the flexibility to reach back there!
After intermission and a change of costume for the finale Ava Claire
came back to watch the second half of the show with us, and ended up
on my lap for most of it as there were no spare seats. She was an
enthusiastic clapper and commentator – she loudly proclaimed that
the boy dancers were not very good and I hoped their parents were not
sitting close-by as I hissed that she was not being very kind.
All the dancers were to participate in
the finale so when a group appeared on stage in the exact t-shirt
that she was wearing I asked Coryn if she needed to take her
daughter backstage. She said they would make an announcement for all
the students to come up on stage. No announcement was made and Coryn
realized just in time that she needed to get her daughter on stage.
Unfortunately Ava Claire tripped on some steps on the way there and
dissolved into tears. Coryn pushed her on stage but Ava Claire came
running back to Mommy, bawling while a volunteer helper asked Coryn
if she could possibly take a three year old to the potty - seemingly
oblivious that Coryn was dealing with a meltdown .Coryn, ever the
trooper, dropped Ava Claire off with Jeremy and me while she went in
desperate search of a toilet for a little girl about to pee her
pants.. I tried to understand Ava Claire's problem,she was missing
the finale and it was the only time she got to do it for the whole
year she wailed. I said she could still join her group on stage but
she refused to budge. Then the teachers began to distribute awards
and read down the list of perfect attendees for the year. Ava Claire
was one of them and then had another meltdown because she wasn't on
stage to get her certificate. By this time Coryn was back and took
Ava Claire back up on the stage. However it was only a minute or so
before Ava Claire made a dramatic entrance beside the teacher who was
still speaking. Good thing she had a microphone or she would have
been drowned out by our dramatic diva. The teacher tried to suggest
that Ava Claire sit with her class but that didn't work so she
desperately appealed for a mommy or daddy to rid the stage of this
disastrous piece of publicity for her dance school! I shook my head
and was feeling very pleased that none of my children had behaved
like this .We exited the show after this and in desperation to
pacify my grand daughter I whipped out some dollar bills since she
had done her routine and suggested she get some snacks that were
being sold right by us. It is amazing how quickly a child can
recover, she pointed out that I had not given her five dollars, only
three one dollar bills so I pulled out a five dollar bill so with
that in one hand and the singles in another she was soon buying out
the candy table. She did buy me a licorice stick and three tiny gob
smackers but not three extra dollars worth of candy! Despite being
tired and emotionally distraught she decided that she would stay for
the next show and perform her routine again without a scene which
thankfully she did. Jeremy and I decided to head home in my Ford
Focus – Jeremy's truck was full of stuff so we decided to use my
car. Jeremy commented on how easy it was to park but I think he may
have felt a little cramped as he had to move the drivers seat back as
far as it would go until it hit the backseat car seats!
We had left Owen at home with Taylor
and Camden .Owen is desperately in love with Camden who like her best
friend Ava Claire is five. Camden considers him a pest at best but
he was delirious with joy once she arrived. Prior to her arrival he
was trying to persuade me to take him to the dance recital because he
would not be bored, he wanted to see sissy dance. I had not realized
that he was not going and had arrived with a purse stuffed with books
and snacks to entertain him during the show – the snacks came in
handy for Coryn who was starving as they had missed lunch to look at
houses. Coryn had asked her friend to stay with him as she felt Owen
(her op-positional child - a condition that I apparently have no
experience with as none of my children met the criteria according to
my daughter's expertise) would be impossible to deal with after
twenty minutes of sitting still and she was probably right as it was
a longer show than I had anticipated! Owen was so distracted by the
unexpected treat of having Camden all to himself to play with that he
didn't say another word about wanting to go with us as he happily
trailed after the girl with whom he claims to be in love!
The Logues are moving in with Mother
this weekend as their home closes on the 27th June and
their new one will not close until August 6th unless their
Realtor can push things along! Sheba is going to love having Ollie
here too – she is terrified of Ava Claire and Owen! She spends
hours in hiding when they are around!But as we all know Mother's home
is always open to her children.
I meant to post this to my blog or mail
out the printed version before Owen and Ava Claire moved in ahead of
their parents but unfortunately it didn't happen but it may be some
time before I get to my next news letter as I am sharing a bed with
my grandchildren who have decided that bedtime is 11:30 pm or later
at my house, and awaking at the crack of dawn. I am also dealing with
Ava Claire's non stop talking – usually telling me what to do and
Owen declaring he is superman, climbing the stairs hanging onto the
rail on the outside of the staircase threatening to lose his grip and
plunge to the ground. Mother is definitely living life on the edge
and my nerves are frayed !
All I can say is thank heavens that
Sean and Sarah handed me a card on Friday evening to thank me for
checking on their home while they were away before I had made it
through night one with my grand children as I would probably not have
been able to focus and comprehend the last line. The card read as
follows:
Mother,
Thank you for taking such wonderful
care of our house and garden. You've done such a wonderful job that
we will allow you to take on more tasks next year like washing our
cars, doing our dishes and changing our baby's diapers!
Needless to say I am very excited to be
a Grandma again! Sarah and Sean request that nothing about their
growing family be posted on public media (with the exception of my
blog) as they are planning a trip to England in August and want to
surprise their friends with the news.
Mother hopes some of her older sons
(not the two oldest of course) - who as of yet have shown no signs of
adding to my growing line of grandchildren - will be motivated by the
fact that their baby brother has beaten them in the race to
fatherhood. Sadly I fear that some of my boys are not even interested
in competing!
Love from your Mother who will be
floating in pink and blue clouds of expectation until the new baby
arrives in January!
