Playdates

Eight years ago I thought if I had to drive another toy tractor from one side of the living room to the other, I might lose my mind.  As has been established, my farm boy came into the world knowing how to cultivate, plant, fertilize, spray, harvest and chisel.  And so before he was old enough to spend whole days in the real fields, we farmed our living room, celebrating several growing seasons in one day.  In fact, one evening he declared his dad was a slow farmer and he had magic fields.

Regardless, after several days of domesticity and farming magic fields, I’d start looking for someone to take my place with my farm boy if only for an hour.  Grandma June to the rescue.

The first time I called her for a playdate with her great grandson, I was calling more for me.  I needed another adult in the house for my sanity’s sake. She enthusiastically arrived and stayed the entire day giving as much attention to her granddaughter as she did her great grandson.

Soon, my farm boy would ask for a playdate with Grandma June weekly.  Spring, summer, fall or winter, Grandma never said no.  When she stopped driving, we’d pick her up.

I’d get her situated on a comfortable chair, only to find her a few minutes later sitting on the floor dutifully driving a tractor as far as her reach would allow.  When she started using a cane, I admonished my farm boy for begging to go outside.  I was worried about the uneven ground, the cane and my 83-year old Grandma being guided by her 3-year old grandson.

But, those two worked as a team and one afternoon, I discovered them perched in the tractor, both of them pleased as punch that they escaped my wagging finger.

When my fairy farm princess arrived, the playdates continued.  Now Grandma would drive a tractor and have her hair done all in one sitting.  They’d pull a chair off the patio and bring Grandma to the sandbox to supervise their antics.

Grandma June told many people about the moment when she saw my baby farm boy and couldn’t breathe so overcome she was with emotion. She worried that she had not loved her own sons that much but then realized that a mother’s love is different from a grandmother’s love.  A mother’s love is true but tempered with the demands of providing, disciplining, teaching, soothing, and caring.  A grandmother’s love is not hindered by those stresses.

A grandma can envelop her grandchildren in hugs, kisses, candy and adventures not approved by the parents.  And Grandma June embraced her role with gusto.

Read more 30 Days of Farm Girl Memories

• Kick-off
• Day 1: Surprise Kittens
• Day 2: The Men in My Life
• Day 3: Small Town Saturday Night
• Day 4: “Fall”ing in Love
• Day 5: A Bag of Caramels
• Day 6: Chores in the Dark
• Day 7: Things My Mother Said
• Day 8: Munchy Cheese
• Day 9: Super Swiffer Saturday
• Day 10: Dad’s Church
• Day 11: Kansas City, Then & Now
• Day 12: Video #Throwback: Field Meals
• Day 13: Eggs in A Nest
• Day 14: Baling
• Day 15: The Popcorn Stand
• Day 17: Popping Up Memories
• Day 18: Watching the Weather
• Day 19: The Secret Lives of Farmers
• Day 20: Cows Out
• Day 21: Making the Bed
• Day 22: The Legend of Blacko
• Day 24: Dancing in Heaven

And find other 30 Day bloggers starting with the one who got us into this – Holly Spangler from My Generation.