How I Spend My Fridays

I thought you might like to know how I spend my Fridays. I have two very nice bosses (thanks Leslie and Sam) who let me scrunch my workweek into four days so that I can have Fridays free to have a weekly play date with Teddy (the blue bear in the picture) and his friend, my three-year-old grandson.

Teddy actually came to my house when I purchased him 3 years, 2 months and 2 days ago, which happened to be the day that my grandson and I started the first of our weekly play dates. Over the last eight months or so Teddy has been more or less going home with his friend, my grandson, every week. In fact, Teddy has a much richer life than I do. 

He has gone to North Carolina on vacation, taken a train trip, gone grocery shopping, been carried up library steps in search of a good book and spent many a morning at a local park or two swinging in the warm sunlight. I have it on good authority from my daughter-in-law that Teddy is a big bed hog at night and demands more than his share of the bed. The bed in question happens to be her and my stepson's bed, but gets the occasional nightly visit from Teddy and his young friend. 

For a while, the blue bear would even start talking spontaneously — no one being anywhere in his vicinity, saying things like, “Are you sleepy too?” “Tell me a bedtime story.” The first time these unnatural speeches sounded, I was alone in my house. I heard the noise but I couldn't pin point where it was coming from. When I would go and look for the source — silence. It took me about three days to figure out what was going on. It was my own fault — I had put Teddy in the washing machine, because he had been dropped in the dirt — and well, I'm just saying, talking bears don't belong in washing machines. 

When my little buddy and I play cards, Teddy also gets dealt a hand. When I object that Teddy is getting more than his share of cards, my grandson reminds me, “Well, you have to share, Maw T-U.” It's hard to fault that logic. 

Teddy also is the subject of all kinds of photographic attempts. My grandson and I “share” grandma's old Sony camera on Fridays. The three year old is fascinated by anything electronic and the Sony, which I've used to record our moments together, has long held an irresistible lure for the boy. Finally this year, I decided the Sony and the boy were both old enough to take the risk of letting him attempt picture taking.

I think the above picture is one of mine, because it was taken before I showed the boy how to zoom in on his subjects, but I can't be certain. The zoom in feature turned out to be an instant hit. “Awesome!” my young friend proclaimed after he reminded me that, “No, I can do it.”

Awesome seems to be a new favorite phrase - caterpillars are awesome, watching ants through the magnifying glass - awesome. I like this much better than the last phrase he was sprinkling in his conversations - “I farted.” Nice!” 

Naptime comes right after lunch. “Don't forget Teddy.” I'm always reminded. Then, “Cover Teddy up.” “Read to Teddy.” When we read the pigeon books by Mo Williams or “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” the three year old will “read” the books himself - he loves the page that you yell, “I'M NOT TIRED!” but our naptime book for the last month has been, “My Truck is Stuck,” a book originally found at the library that caused a tearful scene when mean grandma wouldn't let him take it home with him. He loves the book, and when I say, “You read it to Teddy.” He looks at me with big blue eyes and says, “I can't read.” Like Grandma, who you kiddin' here — read the gosh darn book and quit giving me grief!

So I read, then we snuggle in for a nap. (“Why do we have to take a nap?” “Because Grandma gets cranky if we don't.” Long pause. “Oh.” — subject closed.) 

And that, my friends is how I spend my Fridays — no genealogy, no work, no blogging — just lots of Teddy and the grandson to fill up my time. Until Next Time … 

Note this post first published online, November 2, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 2 November 2007, The Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder