Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Nieces and Nephews

I know, I know; I should be very careful what I ask for. I moaned about missing mothering, and one of my nieces arrived giving me a good dose of my past. Nikki is the daughter of my deceased sister that I thought was my twin, separated from me before conception. We were always "other mother" to each other's children. Now, Nikki is going home, and I'm left with none of my babies to bother. There's no way that I could stay all alone with my man in the mountains with winter coming on. So, I'm off to get what Richard calls "baby slobbers."

It is true that my grandchildren are all of an age that old people kind of creep them out, especially if we touch them, but we have great nieces and nephews that I'm just itching for us to interact with. This afternoon, I'll be making my Easy Squeezy® lasagna with Nikki's ten-year-old little girl. I'm hoping to be doing the same and baking her daddy birthday cake with my nine-year-old granddaughter by Saturday.

Richard is the only man I've ever known that can keep a two-year-old quiet long enough for me to get supper on the table. He made these wonderful wooden sticks with which he builds forts around the toddlers. The pay-off for them sitting very still is that they get to bust out with great fanfare after the building is complete. My niece in Mississippi has two adorable toddler boys that are just the right age for Uncle Richard's version of childcare.

Another thing we love to do is cook for our friends. One of our most long-standing friends has emailed us with an SOS to come teach him how to cook for his wife. Let's see, can I handle spending the winter two blocks from the beach with best friends? I hope he has a lot he wants to learn.

Talk about starting off with a bang! Nkki has invited her father and step mother over for supper tonight. It's time to get on the road so we can get busy.