A Legacy of Playing Together

"Our Sunday school is over.
And we are going home.
Goodbye, Goodbye.
Be always kind and true.
Goodbye, we will always be kind and true."

Did your grandparents sing this song? My grandma sang this song almost every time we left my grandparents house! She always had little songs that we weren’t sure if she made up or if they were actual songs, but she was very convincing. (The Sunday School song is an actual song 😂 I did my research!)

My grandma would have been ninety-four yesterday. She ran ahead to Jesus in 2012 just a couple months before my Paw-Paw, her husband. She grew up with four brothers, in a time of need for boys and men to join the military, this was tough.

I believe some of the childhood that she may have suppressed was rekindled when she became a grandparent.

Even though I am the youngest of the grandchildren, she would play for hours with me. With my brother she would make race tracks out of coffee tables, chairs, couches, you name it- it became a race track. Not only would she make a race track she would sit and roll his cars around with him and laugh and snort. Her laugh was awesome! She would get to laughing and couldn’t stop! Her nose would flare, she would start snorting, she would have to sit down to catch her breath, but best of all she would just throw her head back and let it out!!!

She loved to play school and baby dolls with me. Being the only granddaughter, this was fun! We would line up a bunch of baby dolls and we would take turns “teaching” them. She would give them all fun names- names of her friends when she was in school. We would teach them arithmetic, spelling, writing, reading. I liked to “teach” the way she was taught, seemed simpler and made more sense 😊 We would do this for hours and hours!

When she had to go into a memory care unit in a nursing home, I went to over to help my paw-paw, who was trying to clear some things in their upstairs area, and found she had kept all the school supplies we played with. Flashcards, old workbooks, “teachers notes,” pens and paper. I was around eighteen or nineteen then. She still had some of the dolls too.

She also let me play “hair salon.” Now let me set this up for those of you who may not understand the population of senior women in the south and their “hair day.” My grandma went to the beauty shop every Thursday, never missed it. (even went during a tornado warning!) She would get her hair “done,” and you didn’t mess with it for a week, it was to stay in place for a week, absolutely no messing with it, just a light fluff. So the fact that she let me comb, curl, tie, pin her hair was a huge sacrifice! But she let me play 💕

I don’t know if you ever bought the hard plastic pools that were always outside of the grocery stores, now more commonly at family dollar or dollar general. But in the 1980s and 1990s in our family, we had these at home, at our grandparents houses, and at our lake house. Just needed a hose and kiddie pool and the fun began! Well, one summer my brother, my paw-paw and I were playing and jumping in and out of the one at their house. And I asked my grandma why wasn’t she in her swimsuit. She said she didn’t have one at the house (my paw-paw wasn’t retired yet- so they were living in an apartment during the week and this house on the weekends so they could be with all their grandchildren). Oh course, me being a spitfire, said, “yes you do!” And I marched right in to the house, found her swimsuit and brought it out to her 😂 I remember her laughing, actually all of us laughing, but I can’t remember if she actually put it on! Guess I have always been a stickler for the truth ☺️

When we were tired from playing, the always faithful Wheel-O-Fortune, Andy Griffith, Petticoat Junction, all those TV Land goodies were there.

Not to mention the sweet tooth I inherited from her. Rasinets, Hershey Kisses and Hugs, 3 Musketeers, Lemon Pie, Chocolate Chess Pie, French Silk Pie… And the best of all Grandma and Paw-Paw’s Pound Cake! I can smell and taste it now!!!!

And sleepovers always started with a snuggle, me saying “turn over here sweet cheeks.” And then of course the “first one to sleep gets a quarter!” Never saw any of those quarters… not sure I ever won this challenge anyway 😂

One of the stories that I vaguely remember, but my brother and cousins remind me of often, is something I picked up from my grandma when I was real little. When she would leave the house she would check the oven, stove, iron, etc and she would say “off, off, off” with each thing. I guess I just assumed this was a normal thing, not really knowing what she was saying was off. So every time I would leave the house I began saying, “Off, off, off” 😊 She said this all my life and it makes me giggle every time I think about our times together.

Play is essential for children’s mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, relational growth. Play is also essential to keeping grown-ups light hearted and engaged with children. Play is essential for all ages to learn and grow. Sometimes we have to get on the floor. Sometimes we have to make a mess. Sometimes we have to spread out the toys. Sometimes we just have to put the swimsuit on. Sometimes the furniture can’t matter more than the child’s heart. Sometimes the child’s voice needs to be the loudest. Sometimes the child just wants to be seen. Sometimes the child just wants somebody to be with them. My grandma taught me these things, and I am forever grateful.

Life Book of the Week: Madeline Collection, by Ludwig Bemelmans – My Grandma and Paw-Paw gave me this collection of stories. I can also remember how excited they were when the Madeline movie came to theaters! They were overjoyed and they picked up me and a friend and took us to see it! Madeline will always have a special place in my heart! It was the theme of my Lucy’s 5th birthday 😊