Nanas and Papas and Scarecrows

My parents moved out here and took over our old house about two months ago.  It’s been one of the greatest things ever.  For starters, it meant that we weren’t really “renting” our house anymore.  Don’t get me wrong, we lucked into some really great renters—but they were still renters.  Little things that broke or needed to be fixed weren’t reported, and the house itself was regarded as temporary, so the upkeep was minimal.

Do you have a moment to talk about King Candy Corn?

 Parents are different—or at least mine are.  A lot of stuff we didn’t even know needed to be repaired has been identified and already fixed!  I keep trying to throw money at my parents for these items, and, like all good parents, they keep saying it’s already paid done.

Then, of course, there’s a free babysitting.  Nothing has even come close to how awesome this is.  The boys have always loved their Nana and Papa.  Having my parents this close also means that the boys can “help” as Papa works on my ailing/failing sprinkler system or other little tidbits.  They’ve already had two sleepovers and learned that Nana’s house means “treats” almost the moment they walk in the door.

Most telling of all happened last night/early this morning.  For once, my youngest didn’t wake up and start screaming.  Instead, he came down the stairs and started calling out for Nana.  There was fear and panic in his voice, so I immediately rushed out to find him.

“Where’s Nana?” he asked me.  He was wrapped up in his ducky blanket.

“She’s at home.”

I scooped him up and we sat down on the couch.

“Ok.  I had a scary dream.”

“It’s ok.”

“There were scarecrows,” he told me.  “And they were scary and they had green eyes.”

“That does sound like something Nana could help with.”

We sat on the couch, with him in my lap, and I sang him a song.  He quickly went back to sleep and I carried him back upstairs to his bed.

The update to the scarecrows came this morning.  He bounced down the stairs all wide grins and bright eyes.

“Daddy, when I went back to sleep I got a team with Papa and we fought the scarecrows!”

Thanks Nana!  Thanks Papa!