Grandparent Mix Up

To Lili, all adults who happen to look a little older are 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa' these days. With no grandparents living anywhere near us right now, the only exposure the kids have to their extended family are during random once or twice a year visits. For X-Mas I made them little photo albums with pics of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins which they LOVE to look through, but it's still not the same as being able to see and talk to everyone. Since switching to an in-home daycare this past June, I have noticed Lili asking more questions about HER Grandma and HER Grandpa. I know that she often sees the grandparents of the other little kids at daycare, so it's only natural that she would ask about HERs. If one of the grandparents was visiting on a particular day, I always get drilled with questions as soon as we get in the car...'I have Grandma too, Mama?'...'I want see Grandma?' That's when I get to tell her that she actually has 2 Grandpas and 3 Grandmas. She gets so excited to hear that she has so many! Although it's very sweet, it's also sad to think that if we continue to live as far away from everyone as we do now, our kids may never have the close relationships with their extended family as I had always hoped they would have.

The 'sweetness' of her new found interest in 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa' also comes with some embarrassment as well. Driving through McD's drive-thru the other day, she yelled at the woman in the window (who could not have been more than 35 years old), 'HI GRANDMA!! HI!!!! HI GRANDMA!'. If you have a 2.5 year old, you KNOW that they are very insistent on being heard! Then we had an incident with a dishwasher repairman who she called 'Grandpa'.....'Dat Grandpa Mommy?' I can't help but laugh when she says this stuff...but I wish I had a better way of explaining that her Grandmas and Grandpas live far away and she won't be seeing them in the drive-thru or repairing the dishwasher...