I had my granddaughter for a week while her mom and dad were on a cruise.
I don’t think I’ll ever recover.
Don’t get me wrong — time with her is precious and wonderful and it goes by way too quick.
But I. Am. TIRED.
I forget about the energy it takes to keep up with a 2 1/2 year old. I forgot about the days when you really couldn’t shower until nap time (and sometimes not even then) because you’re picking up toys that have been scattered around the house like a tornado blew through.
And the things is that she is a really, really easy child to deal with. She takes a nap without protest, willingly goes to her room to go night-night (no tears and no fighting it), and very rarely throws a toddler fit.
I think the biggest battle I had the entire week was figuring out what she would eat. I learned to not ask what she wanted – to just give her food and she would eat at least a couple bites of it. I was amazed by how she would hardly eat anything and just live off snacking on Cheerios and chocolate milk, yet she would have the energy of a thousand suns.
In addition to all of this, I was working from home. I didn’t want to take any time off, so I tried to juggle both. I was moderately successful. I got things done, but I couldn’t keep a thought in my head because I was constantly responding to the demands of a toddler: I want more milk! I want more Cheerios! I want to watch Miss Rachel! I want to watch Mickey Mouse! I was in and out of my chair about 358 times per hour, it seemed.
And now the house is silent, but I still have Miss Rachel songs in my head, which is sheer torture in itself (“One little red fish, swimming in the water . . . ” and “I’m soooo happy!”). Her favorite game was going upstairs to say hi to grandpa and look at my Kit-Kat clock that hangs in her room. (She didn’t like the eyes moving from side to side, so she would want me to still the tail and shut it “off.”). While I was working, she would go upstairs and then announce (over and over until I joined her) that she was “downstairs!” “Gamma, I’m downstairs! Gamma, I’m downstairs!” (She doesn’t yet realize the difference between going upstairs and downstairs, so everything was downstairs.). So I’d leave my computer and join her upstairs, and we’d make all the rounds to all the rooms, then we would head downstairs again. As soon as we were downstairs, the upstairs routine commenced again.
I kind of wish I had an Apple Watch so I could have calculated my steps during the time she was here. My phone, which sat on the kitchen counter most of the time, chided me for being inactive.
Smart phone?? I think not.
On Friday night, my granddaughter saw a commercial for pizza and then immediately wanted pizza. Not wanting to go to the store and get some, I did a quick search for a thin crust pizza dough, and I found this one from King Arthur flour. Guys, this thin crust is THE BOMB. Super quick and easy, and my picky little granddaughter actually said “Mmmmm!” when she bit into her simple cheese pizza. I did not let it rise because I wanted it as thin as possible. Here’s the link to the recipe. This is now my go-to for thin crust.
Well, that’s all I’ve got: pizza and adventures with the granddaughter. Will be returning to scanning some fun vintage things in upcoming days.
