Tonight was our first Lailah/GranPa Brian sleep-over since GranMa Rose moved out of the home we shared together (to her own place last fall).
Lailah dropped by around 5:30pm tonight since it was Katie and Jordan’s (Lailah”s parents) fourth anniversary of being together, and Lailah wanted to babysit me instead of having to watch cartoons all by herself at her parent’s place (and/or whooping it up by having her day-care friends over and maybe getting all of them plastered on Apple juice).
She is finally asleep now (shhh…), after having the run of the house here, doing the things she usually does when we’re together (princess dollhouse with Sophia, painting, play-doh, creating things with various shapes, having a couple of books read to her, playing hide&go seek, her climbing on my back as I’m sitting on the floor while she is on the bed wanting a horsey-back ride, etc.).
She just did not want to go to sleep, wanting to watch some cartoons, and then wanting to play “iPad”. I explained very calmly that it was way past her bedtime (more than a few times), and gently turned off the iPad after giving her a few warnings in advance. Slowly, the tears came, and then the pouting, and a little bit more, but I spoke to her calmly, holding her in my arms, and then she plays her best (trump?) card (“I want my mom and dad, where are my mom and dad?”). My heart started to ache, but I knew it was really late and that I could not back down and let her turn the iPad on again (“don’t you have the password, GranPa?”, with more tears). I kept stroking her hair, and whispered how much I loved her, and eventually she calmed down. We laid down on her bed, with me on the floor next to her, she couldn’t see my face/eyes so I put on a night light and that helped her, but it still took awhile with the both of us saying “good night, Lailah/GranPa” many, many times (GranPa Brian: “Good night, John-boy”, and Lailah responding with “GranPa Brian, I’m not John-boy, I’m Lailah [her last name]”), and both of telling each other how much we loved them (“with all my heart”). I finally closed my eyes and pretended to fall asleep, and she, of course, came closer and stuck her face right up to mine, and stared at me for several minutes, touching my face, trying to wake me up – I stood my ground, and she got the message and laid back down, and wa-la, finally fell asleep, like the good girl she is.
I cannot wait to watch her wake up tomorrow morning, cannot wait for us to make breakfast together. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow, but I have her for the entire day (like I do most Friday’s). The boat show is in town, but I think she’s still a bit young for that. I wonder if the tram/train is running at the MN zoo, or if they’ve already shut it down, I think, due to high cost of running it.
The furnace finally bit the dust Wednesday morning (after giving me a warning shot across the bow a week or two ago), and the repair guy came out today and took a large chunk out of my “pocketbook”. But, you know, getting that call from Lailah’s mom at noon, informing me that Lailah was insisting on a sleep-over for tonight, and then having her over, made me forget about life’s unexpected repair woes, and life is still good, very good. She makes me happy, and I think I help to make her happy as well. She is so smart, so beautiful, so pushy (“Come on, GranPa, let’s go play in the [whatever room we’re NOT in]”), so pretty, with acting skills second to none (knows when to turn on the tears, or when to make the pouting faces), and did I mention how smart she is?
So, that’s it for now, another long winded post about my (pseudo) granddaughter and how much she means to me and how much she has taught me, giving me a whole new perspective on life.
Have a good day, everyone, and thanks for listening. Keep tuned in to WLAY at 123.45 on your FM dial.
