A - Z Challenge 2023 - E is for Ella

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This year I'm writing about things connected with Being a Grandparent.  For an introduction to my grandchildren check out my theme reveal here.

Ella

Ella is our only granddaughter and the youngest of our grandchildren.  I don’t think that is going to be a problem for her.  She is a very determined little girl – knows her own mind and will not be taking any nonsense from all those boys.

Unfortunately she also seems prone to catching every bug and germ going.  This has resulted in her needing to use inhalers and several overnight visits to the hospital.  Hopefully as she gets older she’ll develop a better immunity to all the coughs and colds but I think it’s partly due to being a lockdown baby – not mixing with other children so much to build up her immune system.

It wasn’t much fun for my DILs, being pregnant during a pandemic but of course when they were trying to get pregnant no one knew what was coming. 

Ella looks very like her Mummy did as a child.  She’s what I call a dainty child – episodes of illness don’t go well with eating so she’s quite slender but also tall.  It’s also made her quite clingy and not the easiest of the grandchildren to babysit.  The last couple of times have been better though.

I had her during the day recently and we spent a long time playing with playdough.  I missed the photo opportunity though – we were using the dining table and instead of sitting or kneeling on one of the chairs Ella climbed onto the table and sat herself there while we played.  I wish my joints were as supple as hers!

The last evening babysit went better too – I managed to get her asleep and into her cot.  It took a long time though – Nanny had to go through her whole repertoire of lullabies, songs, carols etc before she finally dropped off and I could put her down but at least she was asleep when her Mummies came home unlike the previous time when both children were still up watching TV.

I’ve been asked if she’s likely to be more spoiled as she’s the only granddaughter but I try very hard not to have any favourites although I spoil them all to some degree.  That’s part of the fun of being a grandparent isn’t it?  Although I also try hard to not go against any rules the parents may have on what the grandchildren can or cannot do/have and so on.

Ella knows lots of words but chats are still a bit full of gobbledygook at the moment although she’s fluent with a lot of nursery rhymes/songs if you listen to her singing away to herself.  Too cute!

A - Z Challenge 2023 - D is for Diapers

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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This year I'm writing about things connected with Being a Grandparent.  For an introduction to my grandchildren check out my theme reveal here.

Diapers

Yes I know we call them nappies here in the UK but I already have a post lined up for N and one of my DILs is American so she usually refers to them as diapers so here we go.

When I had my children I was determined I was not going to use disposable nappies on a regular basis.  I didn’t want to be contributing to landfill and, of course, there was the expense to be factored in.  Therefore I bought a supply of terry nappies.  That’s what they were called in my day as they were made from a terry towelling fabric.  I also had supplies of liners to cope with the “messy” nappies and of course buckets for soaking them before washing.  And the plastic pants that were supposed to keep the baby and their clothes dry.

Disposables for when we were going to be away or visiting somewhere that using a non-disposable wouldn’t be the best option.

Well my good intentions did not last long.  It was hard enough recovering from a C section and coping with a new baby and all the extra laundry that entailed without the extra work or dealing with terry nappies.  Not to mention the anxiety over where the pin was going to end up.

They very quickly became used in lots of other ways but not as nappies.

Of course, like many fashions, things move in circles.

Once again many Mums are turning to non-disposable nappies because they are conscious of the environmental effect of disposables.  But today’s versions are so much easier to use – the pads fit inside waterproof pants that have poppers making putting them on so much easier.  They’re also less bulky.   But they still require washing, a lot of washing.  Soaking first, then prewashing and then washing.

At least 3 of my grandchildren have been in non-disposable nappies at some point in time and 1 DIL in particular persevered for quite a long time but at present the 3 youngest ones are still in disposable nappies.

Hopefully by the end of this year though they will all be toilet trained and nappies will be a thing of their past.

A - Z Challenge 2023 - C is for Cousins

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
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This year I'm writing about things connected with Being a Grandparent.  For an introduction to my grandchildren check out my theme reveal here.

Cousins

Of course these 6 grandchildren of mine are each other’s cousins.  Extended family is so important – I grew up seeing quite a bit of my cousins.  Many years there would be a family holiday and there were always occasions like Christmas or big birthdays, weddings etc when the family would get together.

Hubby’s family is the same and there are even more of them – my children have 22 cousins each just on his side of the family and there were always get togethers when they were growing up.  Now that most of those cousins are now paired off and many have children of their own we need to hire a hall to get everyone together or find a large field!

For now though our 6 grandchildren love getting together.  When my elder son and his family visit it’s usually for a few days at a time and we always try and make sure there is plenty of cousin time!  When we moved to our current house back in 2020 a few people asked us if we were downsizing.  The answer was no.  If anything this house is slightly bigger than our old house and the layout (apart from the “lap”) is much better as it means we have the space to have everyone here.  

In fact at Christmas 2021 everyone was here and they all slept over on Christmas night.  Hubby and I ended up on an airbed downstairs in the lounge but we coped.

Christmas lunch 2021

I’m just glad that we can help make memories for these cousins to look back on when they’re older.

A-Z Challenge 2023 - B is for Boisterous

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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This year I'm writing about things connected with Being a Grandparent.  For an introduction to my grandchildren check out my theme reveal here.

Boisterous

Oh my goodness these grandchildren of mine can be boisterous.  2 at a time is manageable, 4 together, in any combination, is a bit challenging but, get all 6 here together and it’s chaos!  They are always so excited to see one another that they definitely get a bit silly, for a while at least.

The layout of our house is such that they can do a “lap” – out of the lounge, into the dining room, through the kitchen and then back into the lounge.  And repeat!  And repeat! And…… you get the picture I’m sure.  A commotion* of grandchildren chasing one another around.  They struggle to open the doors between the lounge and dining room but the other two doors are no match for them.  Even the younger ones can now reach the door handles and, in some cases, if they can’t reach something standing up they are more than capable of finding something they can climb on to reach their target.

The door from the kitchen into the hall and access back into the lounge is a sliding door.  I’m seriously thinking of getting some sort of catch on it to shut down the “lap” but I know it probably wouldn’t deter them.  It might slow them down a bit but not for long.

To make matters worse we don’t have carpets in our house – the only thing that is carpeted is the staircase.  The lounge has a wooden floor and the kitchen and dining areas are tiled.  Not the sort of surfaces you want a child falling and banging their heads on. 

Eventually I would like to get some nice rugs for my lounge but for the moment we have this:

Sometimes I feel I’ve turned my house into a crèche but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

*I looked up what the collective noun for grandchildren was and that word is definitely appropriate not so sure about the one for Grandparents – a Nag, although the grandchildren would probably agree with it, especially when I’m trying to stop them chasing round the lap.