Isn't it funny how a few years changes your perspective on things? My grandma did all these things when I was growing up, and my cousins and I thought she was so goofy. Now? Not so much. In fact, I find myself doing and repeating some of the exact same things....
1. Saving aluminum foil. Really, she would take the foil off of, say, a vegetable side dish, flatten it out, wipe it off, and fold it up neatly in a drawer to use again later.
I don't actually do this. (Not for lack of trying, but the foil always rips on me--I guess they don't make it like they used to.) I do save and reuse glass jars and zip-top baggies though.
2. Taking pictures. My grandma is a picture taker. Every year at Christmas and Easter and whenever else the family would get together, we would have a ritual lining up "in front of the fireplace" for a family picture or two...or ten!
Me...well, you guys read this blog so you are all too aware of my picture taking problem.
3. Buying things secondhand. My grandma volunteered at a thrift store for years, and as such, always had boxes of clothes set aside for me when I would visit her. I'm told it's a Midwest thing, but even in my upper elementary school years "name brands" were the rage at my school, so thrift store clothes--no matter how cute--did not impress me. I always pretended to love it all because I loved her, of course, but often the clothes ended up right back in the donation bin.
Now I dream of having someone who gets "first picks" to set aside all the cute clothes in my size--I mean, wouldn't that be awesome?
4. The brusha-brusha song and dance. In order to get us to brush our teeth at night, my grandma (and sometimes even grandpa too) would sing the brusha-brusha song. It varied a bit by grandchild for rhyming purposes, but my version went something like, "Brusha-brusha pan, Brusha Meryl Brianne..." repeated over and over again with a sort of Elvis hip-and-head shake. When I was five, it was hilarious. When I was twelve, less so.
Now that I'm old enough not to be self-conscious about such things, the brusha-brusha song occasionally slips into my bedtime routine. The first time I did it with Sweet Husband in the room, he was very bemused. Silly, yes--but that's the point!
5. Taking naps. I fully believe my grandma has taken an afternoon nap every single day of her life. When my cousins and I were little, we had to take naps also. When we got a little bit older napping wasn't required, but our parents put the fear-of-god into us about being quiet while my grandma took hers.
My daily napping spot isn't quite as cozy as Grandma's. It's typically with my head propped up against a window during my evening commute. (Don't worry, I don't sleep and drive.) All the same though, I always feel so much better--about my day, about my evening, about my life--when I get just that little half-hour snooze in.
(The pictures are two of my favorite shots of my grandma. The first was taken when she was a teenager. The second was taken by me when I was a teenager.)
