We had an early start yesterday as we were having Cadey from 8am until 2.30pm. Now, this is the longest we have looked after her on our own and so we had plans to keep her entertained.
When she arrived my first job was breakfast - bacon, spaghetti and toast, followed by yoghurt. This is, apparently, what she always has when she stays with her other Grandma - and it's non-negotiable. At 3 and a half, she knows her own mind.
Her other Grandma had sent over a small can of spaghetti, or so I was told, but it turned out to be macaroni cheese masquerading as spaghetti. I assumed this was an acceptable alternative and carried on. I was to find out some assumptions cannot be made.
Cadey decided to entertain herself by annoying the dogs while I set about cooking. The dogs cannot work out this little person that visits and before long I found myself cooking with a dog attached to each ankle as they tried to avoid her hugs.
Before very long she was asking for her yoghurt - but the macaroni cheese remained untouched. She informed me it was too plain for her and she doesn't like it plain. Now, I need to find out the trick to making it 'un-plain' from her other Grandma as no matter what I suggested, the pseudo-spaghetti was not meeting her standards and I finally gave in and replaced it with her yoghurt!
Breakfast over, we then got coats and boots on, put collars and leads on the dogs and took them for a walk in the park. I was careful not to go too far as I needed to conserve some energy - I had plans for later.
While we waited for Neil to come home from a job he was doing, Cadey decided she would like to watch a DVD. Oh dear, I wasn't sure our DVD collection included anything suitable for a 3 year old!
She kept pulling boxes out to my reply - no, sorry, that's for grown ups. Finally we got a couple I could play - Ice Age or Finding Nemo. As I looked for the remote, Cadey had the recorder turned on and the DVD in the machine......who needs remotes? I made a mental note to check cheap kids DVD's next time I'm on Amazon.
Finally, Neil arrived home and we could carry on with our plans for the day - a trip to the Butterfly farm. I'd looked forward to the day when we could take her there and I wasn't disappointed. We had a lovely time. We bought some fruit and veg pots to feed the goats,
we stroked a skunk and chased after the butterflies. When we got to the nocturnal house Cadey said she didn't want to go in 'cos of the dark but she was fascinated by the snakes outside. As she stood there looking at one that was moving,
the keeper came over and told us he was about to get it out for a talk and if we wanted to wait a few minutes, we would be able to hold it.
I had no idea how Cadey would react to this but I gave Neil the camera, just incase. She sat and listened to what the keeper was saying and then, when he asked if she wanted to hold it, she held out her hands without hesitation.
As we continued to walk around Cadey started asking if we could go and see the pirates. I kept looking around to see what she meant, there were meerkats, owls, turkeys, ponies but nothing that would resemble a pirate. There were no kid's play areas that had pirate themes, and I was totally stumped.
Then she told me she needed the loo and so we headed for the toilets - passing the PARROTS - not pirates! How silly did I feel?
Finally, it was time to leave and we had one very happy little girl. The day had been as much fun as I had hoped. We were exhausted, looking after a 3 year old is not easy but we loved having a Grandma and Grandad day.
Can't wait for the next one.
1 comment:
I loved reading that but, OMG, 3 & a half yr olds are very different these days. Have you noticed how (almost) newborns often wear jeans & designer tops? Sounds like you had a fantastic time as Grandma & Grandad. Snakes? UGH! Poor Brandy & Brinkley though, whatever can they be thinking of you bringing Cadey into their domain.
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