I have loved my Grandma days….
Last Monday we had so much fun. It’s really all just simple, but I so enjoy it. Even though Georgia is somewhat of a handful. Don’t let that sweet little smile fake you into believing she’s all sugar and spice. She’s not. She is feisty….and a whole lot of it!
In our family, we joke about if kids are like my son Buck or like my son Karl. Carver came along and he’s like Buck…more hyper and very busy, inquisitive and energetic. Carver was such a handful to take care of in child care. I told Kalissa when she was pregnant with Gannon that I wished for her that she could get a Karl. Karl is more mellow. He’s a thinker and a studier.
I love both of my boys, Buck, and Karl, but each has characteristics that are appreciated at different times. Buck is meant for a physical labor job. Karl is meant to work in an office. It’s just the way God made them and I appreciate both personalities.
Here is Georgia being all of herself playing with Rosie. It’s a short 28-second video (push the play button) but you get the idea…she’s FULL of energy.
Here is a way to see the difference in the two of them, Georgia more like Buck, and Gannon who is more like Karl.
This is Georgia doing a puzzle….She tried to put puzzle pieces into the puzzle and screams because she can’t get them in. She gets frustrated and will try to grab Gannon’s puzzle.
Here is Gannon…much more like Karl. He takes a puzzle piece out.
He checks out the space underneath.
He patiently puts the piece back in the puzzle and will do this for a good 20-minute spell and not be bothered by Georgia unless she’s stealing his puzzle pieces.
So different from Georgia.
It’s all really just a difference in temperament. I love them both dearly and wouldn’t trade them for a second as to how they are even though Georgia is a handful. She’s so fun to tease and interact with. She catches on quickly. She makes me laugh and smile and want to pull my hair out all at once.
She loves “playing in the toilet” if the door gets left open and somehow she has a “sense” when it is…Gannon wouldn’t dream of playing in the toilet. If the stair gate isn’t up, she’ll sprint to the top of the stairs run down the hallway, and get into something. Gannon will come and let me know the gate isn’t up.
There is such a HUGE difference between the two of them. People say things like “boys will be boys”…at our house, “Georgia will be Georgia”.
Thankfully she does like stroller rides…
…but when we go, I have to put Gannon’s treats in the cup holder the farthest away from Georgia, as she will steal his treats before hers are even gone. Gannon is so sweet. He won’t cry or protest, just look at me with big eyes as if saying, “are you going to let her do this?”.
If we could calm Georgia down and liven Gannon up, we’d have it made…but not really. They wouldn’t be themselves and although the feisty can be hard to deal with, feisty can be fun too. I wouldn’t change them at all.
Carver has done a good job calming down as he was so much like Georgia when he was young. He’s still full of what Kramer would say is “piss and vinegar” but he’s got a little more control of it now. Let’s hope Georgia will with age.
Anyway, I have a great time with these guys and am so thankful they came into my life when they did. I’ve needed some time in the rocking chair sorting out my life and Gannon has provided me an excuse to sit…Georgia has reminded me I need to get up and moving. I can’t wallow. Speaking of which, she just woke from a nap…I’m off to play Grandma.
I’d love to know if you have Bucks or Karls in your life…I’m sure, like me, you can appreciate them both!
With Georgia around, Rosie gets her exercise!! She apparently enjoys playing with Georgia and isn’t afraid of her at all…of course she is much quicker at this age than Georgia! I have both Bucks and Karl’s in my life…much easier when they are older! Exhausting when younger because you can’t take your attention away from them! So nice to have Gannon and Georgia so close in age and being raised in such close proximity!!
Your little grand daughter looks just like you.
Loved the video of Georgia and Rosie! A perfect pick-me-up for a grotty day – thank you! :)
My newly 3 year old is more a Buck personality. I am very low energy and didn’t have her until I was 36. She’s also lower sleep needs. She took her last nap at 28 months old. She was also a “high needs baby”. I related so much to the writing you did about the baby you had in child care that you had to ask to leave because she spent all day screaming and crying and it was too much. My daughter was very like that until she was walking at 12 months old. She hated being a baby and was very vocal about it. She would get bored very quickly and you’d have to walk her all around to stop the screaming. I had a birth injury that made walking and standing very painful. I just was able to get surgery to mostly fix it this summer. My daughters’ whole first year was very very hard on so many levels. She became much much easier after she could walk but like Georgia she’s very energetic and loves to be into things. She also had some delays that were scary for us, wondering what her future would look like. At one point a SLP told us she’d never speak without a communication device (she was almost two and basically non verbal). By 2.5 she was 3 months ahead on speech. She was oddly very ahead on other areas. She knew all the colors, including gold and silver etc by 18 months and 15 different shapes and could identify all the letters in the alphabet by 24 months without me really teaching her outside of reading to her. It’s definitely not been boring around here that’s for sure. I love my daughter dearly and don’t regret her for a second, and never have, but she’ll be an only child LOL.
Oh, Helen. What a challenge but like us, I’m sure your little one’s smiles and spunk have you smiling many days too. We probably laugh at her antics as much as want to pull our hair out. The good news is they settle down. Truly they do!! She will keep you young and that is such a blessing!
Love the video of Rosie and Georgia!!! They look like great buddies!!! Enjoy your grandma time!!!
There is a children’s book called I Love you the Purplest by Barbara M. Joosse that this story reminds me of. I think your family would love it! It has a Karl and a Buck in it and a Momma who loves the equally for their different traits.
Wait until she starts school , seems to calm them down. It’s the regiment , like military , which she doesn’t get at grandma’s. Love the video. Gannon sounds like a sweetheart .
It is always so fun to hear about your grandkids and see pictures of them. I got a good chuckle watching the video of Rosie and Georgia – so fun! Keep having the fun you do with them and I am sure their moms and dad appreciate you helping.
Love the video! It just made my day! Beagles and then baby hysterical laugh…how can you go wrong?!?! Thanks for sharing!
What a treat this post was, Jo!! I can identify with the challenges of each personality type. The post also made me a little sad that I’m not currently with my young charges. Thanks for sharing your Grandma Day with us!
Loved the video! I thought to myself that they will keep each other busy which is good! lol My boys were a little different from each other. The first one would wander away and always needed to be watched but he didn’t get into things. The second one wasn’t inclined to wander and was kind of quiet but I found him to be sneaky and got into things. He was the one that figured out the step stool could get him into the snack pantry and got into my cosmetics drawer. I only knew about that because I found my lipstick all smashed since he didn’t know to turn it before putting the lid back on. Love seeing your grandma stories!
LOVE the video of Miss Georgia and Rosie playing.
I love this post! Your grandchildren are the cutest and must provide so much joy for you. We have two granddaughters, sisters, eight and four. They are kind of between Georgia and Gannon in personality. We have so much fun with them, playing, teaching them new things and now e-learning.
Georgia and Rosie playing was so much fun. Rosie kept her busy. I have a two Bucks and a Carl in grandchildren my grandson is a Carl and my granddaughters were into everything. My youngest grand daughter climbed up into the top bookshelf in their room I wouldn’t have know it but she got stuck. It took a bit to get her out. That’s just one of tricks they pulled evidently they had been taking turns being toys on the shelf.
Thank you Jo. Yes, that is very true. I am so thankful I have her. She truly does make my life complete and I can’t imagine our lives without her in it. She certainly does keep us on our toes and laughing on a daily basis.
Thank you for sharing your life and your wonderful family. Reading your, and Kalissa’s, blog is something I always look forward to.
As you say, you gotta love them….just the way they are. Our daughter started walking at 9 months, stopped napping at 10 months, had a 100+ vocabulary by age 1 and talked incessantly, knew all her letters by 2; was showing a strong artistic streak by 3 , at age 4 she stopped traffic in the Abby Aldrich museum (Colonial Williamsburg) needlework gallery giving a lecture on the various forms of needlework being displayed, and had taught herself to read by age 5. She entered kindergarden with a 6th grade reading level. She was high energy but no interest in organized sports. Mildly interested in dance but loved playing viola. Her brother walked by 8 months but napped until almost 2 (I could forgive him almost anything because of that); didn’t speak until almost 2 and gave no indication of knowing his letters or numbers. His preschool teacher was worried because he couldn’t count to 10 correctly most of the time. The next week we caught him hopping from tile to tile and counting to 100. His kindergarten teacher confessed she didn’t know how much or even if he could read. First grade he not only was the first student to read 100 books but read almost 900 by the end of the school year. I heard every book. In 3rd grade he had a 10th grade reading level. By age 2, he had figured out how to get through the child proof locks and showed his sister. At 3, he knew how to disarm the security system which we used because he could open any lock and climbed like a monkey to reach the door chains to get out of the house. Good thing he only figured out 2 out of 3 numbers for the security code. He wasn’t high energy like his sister but enjoyed sports. He was quiet but became a percussionist ending up in the Marine Band. She was wild and crazy and he was mellow. She played with Grandma’s Spode dishes and didn’t break them. He broke everything including my father’s cactus. Both hated school but graduated from high school and college with honors. He enjoys his work as an Engineer with the Corps of Engineers. She enjoys being a shopper for Instacart and making jewelry on the side. It has been a wild ride to say the least. Now the first member of the next generation is here and is showing himself to be a good(????) combination of the two of them.
So very appropriate for our family too! Actually, my grandpa, my dad, me, my son, one of my grandsons are all just alike. We all call one another by the oldest member’s name. My grandson is often referred to as my “mini-me” and my son tells us – there is no denying who this one belongs to… So great you are enjoying your grandbabies – all of them with their own personalities. Thank you for sharing and for keeping us up with the happenings at the Kramer house. I’m happy for Rosie too. It’s great to see Rosie happy and playing with the littles.
I have 3 children (ages 33, 31, and 29) – when they were young it was interesting to watch their personalities emerge.
My oldest – the higher, the faster, the louder, the better and selfish – wow, the world was to revolve around him. He had NO fear and anything he put his mind to he could do. The problem was getting him to do something he didn’t want to. He’d give up so quickly if something didn’t work for him easily. If he wanted to do something he’d not think it through – quite impulsive at times. Climb a tree but not think about having to get down again.
My middle child (and only girl) was more cautious – partly because she had to be or she’d get hurt. She just didn’t have the coordination like her older brother. She didn’t catch on to things as quickly as her older brother either but she had perseverance which he never had. She also had the most compassion I’d ever seen in a little one. As a toddler, she’d see another toddler upset and immediately go over and hand off her pacifier and blankie to make them feel better.
My youngest was an interesting combination. He caught on to things very quickly but was cautious. He’d think things through before doing something. He also showed so much compassion for others. He was quite the peace maker. It was interesting to see how he could go from a wrestling match with his brother and then a tea party with his sister without skipping a beat. Flawless transition between the 2 activities.
Every child is different and does not come with instructions. What works with one kid may not work with another. Parenting is hard that way.