Grandparent PT

Life with the grandkids....Day Six!  I must admit that I am feeling my age.  I am beginning to think that perhaps I should have done some advance physical training for this trip.  A life of knitting, reading, and writing does NOT exactly prepare you for 24-hour-days with little kidlets.    My normal physical exercise consists of walking to the refrigerator, back to the table, over to my computer desk, and to the recliner.  That's it, if you don't count trips here and there in the car.  My last exertion was yoga class and I wasn't exactly a star pupil in that, was I?

This visit Sweet Pea has delighted in wanting her Nana to get down on floor level to play with her.  I try to come up with creative reasons why I can supervise the play from a comfy chair but she isn't buying it.  So down on the floor I go.  Ouch!  Jeepers, it was a lot easier crawling around on my knees when I was Spud's age and MUCH lighter.  Thankfully, Sweet Pea hasn't suggested that I play the part of a "beached whale" yet.

That may look like a smile to you in the above picture but it's a grimace of pain.  Trust me!  I know what's coming.  I have to get up.  I actually tried the excuse of "Nana might not be able to get up if she gets down on the floor" today but bless her little heart, Sweet Pea brightly offered to help me up.  How could I resist that?  Back to the floor we went for some more play time.

Even PawPaw isn't immune to floor exercise with the kidlets.  Spud had him on his knees to do some puzzle work today.  He was smarter than I was, though.  He ended up stretched out flat on the floor and managed to convince Sweet Pea to carry some pillows over to him to prop under his head.    Maybe in my case I should just bypass pillows and teach Sweet Pea to dial 9-1-1 or perform CPR.

There is one exertion that I'm a pro at, however, and one that my body seems to be uniquely qualified for.  That is cuddling with the little ones.  I've got plenty of soft padding and lots of room for them to climb aboard to read, grab a quick drink, or just snuggle.

I'm definitely going to try to lose some of this extra weight before my next visit, though, AND stock up on Ibuprofen before I head down again.  Maybe some gardening knee pads would be a good idea, too.   It's all worth it, though, isn't it, for the joys of grandparenting?