Parenthood Is For the Young

 Just got back from Texas to watch the grandkids while the son and wife celebrated their 10th anniversary.

They entrusted us to watch the three kids (ages 8, 6 and 3) for six days.  To say the least, we did not know what to expect.  

We all know, you can have 3 kids and they will all be different, that was the case for our 3 boys, and still holds true for the 3 grand kids.

Don't care what any one says, there is a difference between the genders.  We are not used to girls.The grand daughter was an experience.  As she and I picked out her clothes each morning, (she did actually choose) I was quickly questioned about our choices of combinations by grandma.  They boys choices were never questioned.

Hair.  There is a reason why my boys didn't have long hair until  high school. I don't braid and I don't even understand the basics of a pony tail.  I examine a hair clip and for the life of me still don't understand how they work.  They are somehow seem to be a distant reletive of the paper clip, yet function quite differently.  It took two of us 3o minutes each night to treat, dry and brush her hair.  Tiff came home and did it by herself in five.  One the course of a day, we did leave a trail of hair clips all over the house.  Grandma made us collect them at the end of each night.

I won't even get into potty training (she did great).  Grandpa just waited in the next room until she was done and needed to wash her hands.  

One does not like tomatoes, the other avocados, the youngest will eat almost anything. Surprisingly they had no issues with vegetables or fruit.  Ice Cream is the universal choice for desert.

Note 1:   do not put two boys in the back seat of the van (yes I did that all the time with my boys).  Don't make grandpa pull the car over and make one sit in the middle row.

Note 2:  When denying a request, "mom said no" always seemed  to work.

Note 3: Hone your negotiating skills.  Number 2 is a future lawyer.

Note 4: "Grandpa is tired" does not work, it is usually followed by "Grandpa get up!" and a yank of the arm.

Note 5: Pouting does not work with Grandpa, that is the one area he will not give in to.

It's been two days and we miss them dearly. But not enough to move to Texas.