working and playing with the grandchildren

I enjoy visiting grandchildren more when I invite them to join me in my activities.
“Come break a couple eggs for tonight’s cake and help set the table.” I urge them. But they also seek to join me in my activities.
When I picked up my cross stitch to while away the hours during a trip last summer, they all wanted to try that. Fortunately I three extra needles and the easy to stitch six-count cross stitch material. From that point on I did little on my project, – they kept me busy untangling their threads, threading their needles and drawing designs for them to stitch.
I should have remembered that when I picked up a basket of note cards and bid the oldest visiting granddaughter to come with me to write a note recently.
She sorted through my selection of note cards with beautiful flowers, magnificent scenery, boats and cute puppies and kittens.
“Cats. I love cats. Cats are my favorite!” She exclaimed taking one with a picture of kittens and began writing.
I chose scenery and settled down to writing when her two younger sisters trailed in to see what we were doing.
“Writing cards to your cousins and aunt.”
“I want to write a card,” the bespectacled middle child insisted. She climbed up on the bed. I handed her a book and held out a holder of pens and pencils. She took a pen and began wading her way through the cards.
“Puppies! I love dogs. They are my favorite.” She began grabbing all of the cards with pictures of dogs on them.
“Just take one. Then if you want to do another card choose another one,” I told her.
She wrote a couple words in ink, made a mistake and reached for another card to start in again.
“No, just cross out the mistake and continue on writing. Would you like a pencil instead? That way you can erase your mistakes.”
She took a pencil.
Littlest sister quietly slid up on the bed with us. She wanted to write a thank you card. She chose cards with puppies and kitties without any declaration of favoritism. We all settled down to write.
I was scrambling for ideas to write when the littlest asked, “How do you spell ‘thank you’?”
I started to spell it out, watched her laborious, six-year-old printing and decided it would be simpler if I jotted the word down on a piece of lined paper. Before she finished that evening. I had spelled out several words on the edge of the paper for her to copy.
Three tow-headed, little girls scribbled away at their cards, thanking their aunt for a gift, telling their cousins they had had a birthday or would be having one and mentioning other significant child hood news. Between helping them spell words, select cards, and address envelopes, I completed only a few sentences on cards addressed to grandchildren.
When the oldest finished her first card, filled in her name with our return address and asked how to address the envelope. I gave her my best guess without checking the family address list – I planned to slide all the cards into larger envelope to mail.
It was not what I had planned for the evening’s activities. It was not something I thought they all should do, but they all wanted join the card writing party.
Demonstrating yet again that children enjoy learning and doing simple, every day activities with the adults in their lives.