Confessions of an Over Indulgent Grandma

We've all watched enough Oprah to know what an "ah-ha" moment is.  According to the dictionary it is, "a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension." The dictionary also said that the expression was first used in 1939. So I guess that I was giving Oprah too much credit. Oh well, enough about that.

 Saturday when Amy was here for the weekend, we decided to have turkey and dressing for our big meal because Bubba wanted to use his "Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer" again.  I waited until Saturday morning to make the dressing and sweet potato casserole so for breakfast we opted to have cake/coffee.  When I asked Amelia what she wanted for breakfast (a mistake), she said "pancakes".  Since we were supposed to eat our big meal later in the day, I told her that I would fix pancakes for her lunch.  Later we changed our plans and decided to have a late lunch rather than supper because it was starting to look as though it might rain.  So as I was just about to have everything ready to put on the table, Amelia realized that she was having pasta (another long story) for lunch rather than pancakes.  So what do you think I did?  I'm ashamed to admit that I pulled out the griddle and quickly made her a plate of pancakes.  Okay, my thinking was that I made a promise and needed to keep it.  In retrospect I realize that I should have explained to her that circumstances had changed and I couldn't make pancakes in the middle of all my other cooking.  I mean, don't we all need to learn that we can't have everything our way - all the time?

Another "ah-ha" moment came about when I realized that I (and Bubba too on this one) had allowed a mailbox with treats/toys in it to continue on in excess and for too long.  You may remember this blog I did, "And the Mailman Came", which I started for Valentine's Day 2012.  Because Amelia was so delighted with every little thing that was in the mailbox, she ran to it several times a day and I had started putting things in it several times a day.  Every visit since then I have stocked up on cheap toys/treats for the mailbox.  I realized that I had to stop so I told Bubba that this time, we would just put a dollar in it every day and then she could buy something at the end of the week.  You could tell that she was not impressed at all with the money, so Bubba suggested that we stop by the Dollar Tree and pick up some items for the mailbox.  She was very pleased to see that she was getting toys again, but after two or three times she started acting like she didn't really care so much for it.  So, her last morning here there was nothing in the mailbox.  I told her to take the mailbox home and she could play post office with it.

Now, I don't blame Amelia for the failure of the mailbox.  If I had not gone overboard with it, she would have probably enjoyed it for several more years.  I also take her a present every time we visit.  As much as I enjoy buying things/clothes for her, I'm not doing her a favor by doing that.  I mean, after all she loves us and gets excited about seeing us.  We should be enough without a "treat" every time.  I will probably regret putting that thought in writing because I really enjoy buying things for her, but I'm going to try not to go overboard.

I've confessed now and I pledge to do better.  I would rather be known as the Nana who always had time to play book store, make cookies and talk than the Nana who bought me a lot of stuff.

HOWEVER, I'm not giving up our trips to Chuck-E-Cheese!