I recently spent a couple days with the ‘Giggle Squad”,  three second-graders consisting of my twin grand-girls and a friend that are virtually learning together in their homes in the Twin Cities during this time of COVID.  I help them out two days every other week to give their working parents some respite.  Last week there was no online school on my scheduled days, so I came prepared with a PLAN chock-full of activities.

Of course, my detailed plan was blown on the first day.  The wood and clay building project that was only supposed to take one hour, took three.  The instructions for the kits I had purchased proved to be a slight mismatch with the provided materials; giving us the opportunity to flex our problem-solving muscles and make some adjustments– I gained important new glue gun skills, and the girls gained confidence in their ability to think of creative solutions to unexpected problems.     

Another planned activity was replaced with a spontaneous nature walk around a nearby lake on an unseasonably warm day.  The girls had a great time:  jumping on rocks, exploring a culvert, skipping rocks, and crawling all over a fallen tree.  There may or may not have been a bathroom break in the woods, and there may or may not have been an extensive conversation about ‘dung’.  (After all, what happens in the woods stays in the woods.) Magic happens when you lose all track of time and get lost in the ‘now’ of nature.  

We created our own restaurant, agreeing on the name ‘Best Foods.  We cooked, made menus and served lunch to two customers each day.  Both customers happened to work in the same building as the restaurant, and we received very positive reviews – particularly regarding the charm of the servers.   

We rehearsed and prepared a play, The Popsicle Boy, which we presented at the end of our time together for a small, but select audience.  I have found that dramatic endeavors (and restaurant reviews) are always best received when the audience consists entirely of the parents of cast members.   

In short, it was a wonderful trip, and my heart was very full by the time I headed home.  Extra time with the girls is an ‘unplanned’ source of joy and wonder for this grandma in these difficult times.