TheBanyanTree: Making Progress

[Kitty Park]

Until late last fall, Brandon (8) and Sophia (5) would take 
turns every month having a sleepover here on a Friday while 
Dawn got together with her scrapbooking friends.  The child 
and I would take the other home and then go to dinner - 
nothing fancy, just a place where each could have grandma 
time one-on-one.

Then the holidays came - and went - and Dawn decided to give 
up her scrapbooking rep responsibilities and just do her 
thing.  So those nights with a house full of women stopped. 
And so did my overnights with the grandkids.

Dawn called yesterday afternoon (when I'd finally fallen 
into my chair to rest after the window cleaning) to say 
Brandon had requested some time alone with Dawn.  Just the 
two of them.  At dinner.  Sophia thought that *she* could 
spend the night with me.  And then Brandon offered the 
thought that after he and Mommy finished dinner, maybe she 
could drop him off and *he* could spend the night, too!!

And so they did.  I was happy to see they can do a lot for 
themselves now.  Brandon showers without supervision. 
Sophia bathes, and still enjoys playing in the bubblebath, 
but she's pretty self-sufficient, too.  I stand by to assist 
when it's time to rinse the shampoo from her hair and chase 
the bubbles down the drain.

They can get around in the kitchen.  They know where the 
foods they like are and each has a bottle of water in the 
fridge.  (I just wish they'd learn to put the empties on the 
counter so I could wash and refill them!  I repeatedly find 
their empties replaced on the refrigerator shelf.)

I anticipated sleeping in this morning.  Silly me.  At 7:00 
I heard voices.  I laid there and listened as they moved 
through the condo, the voices coming closer.  I heard Sophia 
ask Brandon to help her snap her pants and he refused, so 
she came into my bedroom.  The bed shook as she climbed up 
beside me to request assistance.  Task accomplished, she 
jumped down and went to join Brandon in the kitchen where I 
could hear cupboard doors being opened and closed.  They 
have their own plastic cups, bowls and dishes and I heard 
them placed on the counter.  Brandon asked Sophia if she 
wanted a pop-tart and she replied she wanted cereal.   The 
fridge door opened and closed.   I heard spoons being pulled 
from the drawer and put on the counter.  Then, "Sophia!  You 
made me spill it!!"

It was only a matter of time.  I *knew* there'd be a mess of 
some kind to clean up before they finished breakfast. 
Fearing the worst, I called out, "Do you need help?" and 
Brandon, with a dejected voice, replied, "Yesssssssssss."

I found him sitting on the kitchen floor with paper towels 
in his hand as he tried to soak up the splashed milk.  I 
thanked him for helping Sophia with her breakfast and trying 
to clean up and told him it was okay to go eat, I'd wipe up 
the milk.

And so the sleepover went.  I've never wanted to go back in 
time, to relive an event.   But I do tuck special times away 
to remember as they (either the grown kids or the little 
ones) move on to new experiences and gain new skills.  The 
day may yet come when Brandon pushes my wheel chair just 
like I used to push his stroller.

Kitty
kpark at sssnet.com
www.parkplaceohio.com