Children and Pets

Well, here I am, only two days old—I mean as a member of the group, and already I’m blogging. Actually, I like blogging, I like sharing things with people—well, actually, I really like to talk to anyone who’ll listen.

Last week, we spent seven glorious days in Cape May, New Jersey with family. We rented a big old colonial house with eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The grandkids range in age from 10-4 and it’s been an interesting ride watching them grow from babies.

Peter, the eldest of the clan is growing into a nice young man. The only problem, if you can call it that, is he’s very precocious. He only watches the History or Discovery channels on television. When he wakes up earlier than his parents, he reads. Geez, he’s a pretty smart kid—probably smarter than me, but we won’t tell him that.

Then there’s Owen, he’s eight and he aspires to be like his older brother. His big thing this year is being almost as tall as me. So, now we have another precocious kid. Owen was telling me a story last week about someone, and he actually said, “The guy is a paranoid schizophrenic . . . .” See what I mean? I didn’t know these words until I was married. I guess the History and Discovery Channels are working after all.

We lucked out with a little girl. Her name is McKenna and she's also eight. Talk about a ball of energy, she's like a whirling dervish. McKenna is new to our family and we all just adore her. She's a soccer champ, a real buddy to her dad, and she has no fears about trying anything. Underneath it all, she's still girly and enjoys girly things, like getting manicures and pedicures. Now that's fun.

Then there’s Joshua, who’s seven. He’s doing all sorts of fun things that kids do, like playing baseball, learning how to use the boogey board; he’s taking piano lessons and plays the drum like an adult. I swear—this kid is going to be a musical wonder. Okay, maybe I’m a tad partial, but I know it’s going to happen. You can mark my words.

This past Xmas, we were over his house visiting and I heard someone playing the drums. I asked my daughter if her husband had come home early. She gave me one of those proud peacock grins and said, “Nope Mom, that’s Joshua.”

When Joshua came upstairs, I complimented him, and that’s when he asked if I wanted to be the manager for his band. I was really flattered, to say the least. I mean, really, I was the only member of the family who hadn’t been offered a position in his band. And then, you know what? I got all syrupy on the kid and he fired me before I even got a chance to show him my managerial skills. But, that’s okay--I still love the little munchkin. So what if I have to sit in the audience and cheer.

Then last, is Zachary. Talk about cute!!! This little guy is four, and man, what killer eyes. They are the deepest shade of blue I’ve ever seen. He’s a little bit of a devil. His mom would say that’s putting it mildly.

To give you an idea, this little tyke is like Spiderman. Seriously, I really think he believes he is Spiderman. I think my daughter’s wondering the same thing.

Zachary likes excitement—my daughter, on the other hand, would be thrilled with a quiet evening. For example, his other grandparents gave him a shiny bright red Radio Flyer car for Christmas. He was so excited he couldn’t wait to drive it around the house. Well, one day, his mom was down in the basement with the door open getting the laundry out of the dryer to fold when she heard a loud rumbling noise coming fast and furiously. It wasn’t long before she heard a long “Wee,” as Zachary flew down the stairs in his little red Flyer. Shortly after he hit the carpeted basement floor, she heard a series of “Ahhhh’s.”

Mom practically tripped over the basket to get to him. When he saw the worried look on her face, he sat upright with his little palm, face up in the air, and said, “I’m okay, I’m okay.”

Now that everyone is back home, and our dogs have all been retrieved from the kennels, life is back to being normal—whatever that is.

Contributed by Carolyn Hughey © 2007 Carolyn Hughey