Awake: 7:24am Sleep 6+47 sunny overnight @ Indiana, PA.
Nick calls@ 7:45am: Jerry did not sleep well & he didn’t either.
Therefore, Nick will be babysitting Jerry @ the Foote house while the rest
of the gang take a ride to Latrobe (one hr driving) for a big thrift store
of toy & clothes shopping experience. Kathy was interested in going but
the speedy & luxurious Foote van seats were all spoken for. Now with Nick
& Jerry staying, there is room for Kathy.
Not long after that call, the Luxurious Foote transportation machine
arrives for Kathy & smiles from every window can be seen as they speed
away for half the day.
Ahaa, freedom for me; daily newspaper; crossword puzzle & computer with
the high speed access connection as the time goes quickly.
Before I know it, my cell phone rings; its Kathy & the speedy luxurious
Foote transportation machine is minutes away & closing fast on this hotel.
She reports that we have the opportunity to take Matthew with us for an
afternoon of grocery shopping. “Wonderful” I tell her. “I’ll meet you guys
outside in a quick few minutes.” Look @ those smiles: it had to be a good
shopping trip. The biggest smile however, was from Matthew. He likes to
hang out with his hip G. Momma & his hip G. Daddy. We quickly transfer his
car seat from van to Suzuki & wave our goodbyes for now to the blurred
faces of the smiling gang as the big machine speeds away.
Now this is more like being grandparents. Matthew pushes the elevator
buttons to our 2nd floor room & then I work with him in using the plastic
card to unlock our door. Inside, he takes a potty break, eats a few
healthy snacks with us & then we are off to the Supercenter for lots of
Wal-Mart shopping fun. Matthew does good @ being the organizer of the
shopping cart as Kathy selects many & different food items from the
shelves. I, being the driver of the cart, maneuver this heavy thing
flawlessly around the crowded aisles & tight spaces. We were so proud of
our positions & efficiency; this is great! I couldn’t imagine that grand
parenting could be so rewarding.
Only one minute glitch occurred during this heavenly & nearly flawless
episode. When checking out @ the cash register, Matthew who was accustomed
to entering the zip code on the credit card device (which we did not know)
grabbed the plastic pen with a death grip & would not give it up. We tried
the gentle talk approach, then the Jaws of Life to no avail. Matthew
started yelling, screaming, threatening to fire us as his hip & cool
grandparents, etc. It was UGLY! The people waiting in line behind us were
making angry facial expressions like they were going to alert the Child
Welfare Dept any minute. We got out of that store fast! Back @ the Foote’s
home, Matthew lowered the boom on us some more: he tattled & told his
mother everything bad. We were so ashamed. How can we ever be happy
grandparents again?
Well, slowly things did get better & we think we will be able to live with
this BIG blunder & do better the next time, if & when there is a next
time.
Wine before dinner with an extra refill for those wine aficionados, esp K
& I, who continue to slowly recover from that, you know what.
5:30 dinner: Baked spiral sliced ham, American fried potatoes, corn &
spinach salad.
The evening time scenario duplicated itself with the kids being readied
for bed. Matthew did eventually warm up to us a little during the long
evening, but eyed us suspiciously from around corners & dark places much
before that.
The adult time was mostly consumed by playing a game of “Stare.” I like
this game a lot….maybe because I was lucky & they let me win.
This day was, ah sort of just ok.
Lights out: 10:26pm
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