Nana
My mom is the type of person who tends to leave a place in better working condition than it was when she arrived. Such was the case last month when she went home after spending three weeks with us. Words can’t describe how much she helped out ALL of us! I made a list of some of the many ways that she served us in the time that she was here, and this is what I came up with (in no particular order):
- Took Piper for an entire day so that I could take some time to myself and then attend the wedding of our dear friend, Brooke Rollins (it was the first day I’ve had almost all to myself since Pip was born!)
- Babysat for several date nights
- Made EVERYthing fun for Piper
- Did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen EVERY DAY FOR THREE WEEKS!
- Brainstormed decorating ideas with me
- Changed about 30 stinky diaper and countless wet ones
- Wiped a very sick, drippy nose at least 100 times–each day!
- Gave at least ten baths
- Fed Piper nearly every meal
- Put together some shelves that have been sitting in the extra bedroom since October when the “new” floors were installed
- Took Pip on many, many walks in the stroller–including lots of jaunts to the park–pointing out things along the way and creating milestones that Pip remembers and loves (mailboxes, lawn ornaments, etc.)
- Held a sick and/or cranky little girl in her lap for hours and hours and hours while rocking, cuddling, talking and/or singing to her
- Organized Piper’s toys into two separate boxes that can be easily rotated out every other week (like all of us, she bores quickly of the same gear all the time)
- Decorated and set up for Pip’s Big One Party, as well as running errands and shopping/paying for some of it
- Trimmed up our crepe myrtle in the backyard
- Strapped Piper in and took her out of her car seat countless times
- Taught me how to better teach our baby girl
I’m sure I’m missing a lot of things, but that’s what comes to mind. It was SUCH a help and SO nice to have her here! The simple, daily, routine-type tasks were actually the ones that I appreciated the most. It is just SO nice to have an extra set of hands all day long–hands that are attached to a heart that loves our baby girl like we do!
Piper was a little unsure of/timid around Nana for about the first day and a half, but they became fast friends–to the point where Piper almost preferred my mom over me at the end of the three weeks! It was magical to watch them together. David and I have since asked my mom to take the Myers-Briggs Test because I think her personality type will end up being The Teacher or something along those lines. I never really noticed that about her before, but she was amazing to watch in action. I tend to struggle daily to find a balance between getting stuff done and playing with Pip, but my mom was able to do both at the same time by including Piper in the process and talking her through it; teaching the whole time. It takes a lot longer to do things that way but it’s much better for everyone. It just doesn’t come naturally to me, so this has been a challenge for me this past year. Being a witness to my mom’s good example for three weeks was a real gift.
I kept a list of the things that my mom taught Piper while here (this is surely not everything!):
- How to push her new grocery shopping cart around the room, taking things in and out of it
- How to ride on her Little Tykes trike (a push trike, no peddles)
- How to drink from a straw
- How to wrinkle up her nose and inhale–along with the word associated with the action: smell (see example below)
- Almost how to blow her nose
- How to slide down the slide at the park
- How to blow on something with her mouth (like blowing bubbles)
- How to work/use many of her toys, including stacking the colorful rings on their post
- The word for/location of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, fingers and many more
- The word “boo boo” for a mark on her hand–she now thinks that that part of her hand is called a boo boo!!!
- How to screw on a lid
- The letters “T” and “S” which she can now identify in a line-up
- How to “stir” something in a bowl
- Perfected getting up and down a step and getting on and off the bed/sofa
The other thing that was really interesting was the way she sometimes read to Pip. Some days she read the actual words on the pages, but often she would just turn the pages, describing all the things on the page. Pip was enraptured. I’ve tried a couple of times, but I cannot cast the enchanted spell that Nana did!
While Mom was here, we went to the Arboretum twice and enjoyed the amazing flowers. Again, lots of teaching took place, as evidenced by some of the photos below.
Nana also bought Pip a new bucket hat to protect that sweet little head (the old one is too small), which she is wearing in some of the next shots:
This is the second trip to the Arboretum, right before she left:
Three generations:
We were all really sad to part ways. Piper didn’t take it very well. I actually took her to the doctor the day after my mom left because I thought her earache had returned. She was irritable and inconsolable. Her ears looked great, so the doc asked “When did Nana leave?” After learning that she left the day before, the doc said, “I think that’s your problem!” So sad we don’t live closer.
Bye, Nana!
We love and miss you, Mom! Happy early Mother’s Day!
Love y’all and hope to...
one thing i remember about your mom is that she wore flip flops all the time… and one of the first things i noticed about the photos above is that she’s still wearing flip flops… 25 years later!
oh, my mom is “nana” too!