What Grandparents Do

[poliphilo]

Odi and Peter came to lunch. I threw a macaroni cheese together. Even before I got serious about my cooking I had perfected the art of  the cheese sauce.

This was the first time we'd seen them since Odi returned home. Ailz  told them they need to talk to one another. I took Fabrizio's disgusting push chair outside and scrubbed it with soap and water and a hard-bristled brush. This is what grandparents do.

Then I sang to him. I'd like him to grow up knowing all the old nursery rhymes and counting songs. They're the key to the culture.

Comments

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

You are so right about the nursery rhymes and counting songs.
You're a wonderful granddad!

Nursery rhymes

[methodius.livejournal.com]

When our daughter was about 2 we visited my wife's second cousin who had just given birth to their first child, and his father was painting Disney characters on the wall. He said to our daughter, "Look, there's Goofy", and she replied "Goofy, Goofy gander."

cheese sauce

[seraphimsigrist.livejournal.com]

in japan where I often ate macaroni
my art of the cheese sauce consisted
of slicing cheese and putting it on top
of boiling mac.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

You are a wonderful grandfather. And you're right, those old nursery rhymes and counting songs ARE the key to the culture.

When I was a little girl, my grandfather used to sit me on his lap and sing "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" to me. I am the ONLY grandchild he ever sang to. I remember this with great happiness, and I hope your grandchild feels the same way.

Until *I* learned how to make cheese sauce, my mom's macaroni and cheese was macaroni with Cheez-Whiz stirred into it. I agree with you, mustard is a key ingredient in cheese sauce.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

You are a wonderful grandfather! And you are so right about the "key to the culture". My own grandmother sang these songs to me, and taught me the rhymes, many of which I had memorized before my third birthday, and all of which I remember to this day. My own long distance grandchildren have been deprived of these, as far as I can tell. When I made reference to phrases from them, the kids thought that I was a bit crazy.