Our grandchildren accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire lives has ever done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends – and hardly ever our own grown children.
Ruth Goode, author 1902-1997
The boys are on holiday from school at present and we decided to have a day together.
After picking up two boys from their house and then meeting the other two at the railway station, we went to Mary Potter Hospice.
A call went out the other day for volunteers to do some gardening. The Hospice had been given a flat of black and white pansies and wanted to plant them urgently to make an “All Blacks” Garden. They needed help in moving plants from one garden bed, removing them to another and planting the new plants.
The boys entered into this wholeheartedly and were officially crowned the Youngest volunteers at MPH. The Hospice grounds rang with the laughter of four cousins enjoying themselves. James, the eldest commented that if he ever has a house of his own, the grounds will be all concreted. He thinks his Granma’s patio is just about right. Little planting, many pots and exposed aggregate.
There was a husband and wife team already there when we arrived and it took hardly any time (approx 1.5 hours) to do all the planting, removing and weeding necessary to make the beds look great again.
Unfortunately, somebody had carried the mulch/blood and bone through the complex instead of taking it around the outside. The smell that greeted us was truly awful It smelt like a bad case of diarrhoea but the smell dispersed in a short time. dreadful while it lasted and of course, each of the boys made a comment as you can imagine.
Cold drinks for the boys, coffee for Granma and we were off to the food court at the mall for lunch. I tend to forget that growing boys need constant feeding. The food court is great because they can each choose what they want to eat from whichever concession they like.
The next stop was Hang Dog, an indoor rock climbing arena where the boys showed their prowess at scaling walls. More laughter as they worked out how to manage the harnesses, belaying etc.
After two hours they decided they had ‘done’ Hang Dog and so we went to my daughter’s house where they spent a further couple of hours playing ‘Black Ops’ on the PS3.
Two teams. The oldest and youngest vs the other two. A very serious undertaking quite different from the other things they did today.
More memories to keep and take out later when they have grown up and maybe won’t want to spend a whole day with their Granma.
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Boys do love their video games, huh? My little nephew, who is 8, is constantly playing them! LOL
They sound like really great young men, though, doing that volunteer work! I bet you are proud of them! 🙂
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Yes I am Sharon and they did it with a good heart. Thanks for the comment.
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What a wonderful family outing! And I have a sneaky suspicion you’re probably called the “cool gramma” when you’re out of earshot! I want to be a cool gramma when I become one!
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I hope they remember these great days when I am no longer here. 🙂
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Lovely, Judith. Sounded like a wonderful way to spend the day!
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It was and they are at such an interesting age. Lots of questions and comment yesterday about the oil spill!
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What a lovely day….nothing nicer than spending quality time with the grandkids…then giving them back!
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Yup – great day but pretty exhausting.
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Look at those fellows climbing! Most days I can’t even climb out of bed.
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Not Granma just watched. No climbing for me!
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As g’ma to nine, I love this post.
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I really enjoyed the day with the boys but was happy to relax with a drink and dinner with a friend afterwards. 🙂
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@granny1947 LOL!!! Love that comment!
Boys do eat alot, don’t they? OY!
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As my only son is now nearing 50 I have had many years to forget just how much they eat and how often.
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How wonderful . . . a day of togetherness, a day of giving to others, a day of nourishing mind and body with food, laughter, and exercise.
Drink it all in, Judith! 😀
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They are growing into such fine young men and I love the time spent with them. 🙂
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They worked and ate and had fun—what a great day with Granma!
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I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.:)
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What wonderful and generous grandsons you have – willing to spend part of their vacation day volunteering to plant flowers. They seem to enjoy your company just as much as you enjoy theirs.
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Thank you for those lovely comments. They are all growing into great young men. Let’s hope it continues. 🙂
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Great memories, Judith. Did you do any rock wall climbing? 😉 How nice the cousins can spend time together, with you, and what a blessing to do community service together. I can only imagine the odor of the fertilizer inside the building!
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Yes working on “Making memories one day at a time”. In answer to your question – No I didn’t rock climb. In fact, I didn’t even think of doing so. Now perhaps I shall if, when the boys go again.
And I think the boys enjoyed the gardening time at the Hospice. There was much discussion about end of life care after we left the place.
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