Sandy Supposes....

Grandgiggles

PROMPT March 5th

What is always sure to get you excited? What makes you irrationally happy?

         Spending time with my grandgiggles always makes me happy. There are three of them at last count, all girls. Groups of things have names. A flock of crows is a murder. A gathering of elephants is a parade . A number of cobras is a quiver, ( that would be the tic of my snake-phobic hubby). We all know a gaggle of geese. There's the pride of lions. You get my gist. I believe a group of girls should be referred to as a giggle of girls. They are vibrant and bubbling with life. Yes, they tend to giggle. For some inexplicable reason, they seem to find me amusing.

          I cannot imagine them being a grump of girls, or a gruff of girls. To me, they are synonymous with light and laughter.

         The eldest, Sydney, had the honour of being the first grandchild to my fledgling grandparent self. These are but a few memories.

         "It's not bonne nuit Nanna. It's goodnight."

         "Oh river, Nanna. See you later." ( She meant 'au revoir', French for goodbye.)

         "You do know Spongebob isn't real, right Nanna?"

         Syd responding to my mumblings and rantings while I drove in big city traffic. "Um, they can't hear you, Nanna."

         Giggle Number Two, Emily, has always kept me on my toes. I suppose she speaks in malapropisms, or the like. I often must remind myself to stop, not react immediately to the confusing thing she's said, and think before I reply. Even with this, I am sometimes lost and not sure what she means. Add to this her dismissive attitude towards questioning and I struggle. It's as if she believes she has already spoken out loud, so why should she repeat herself? She tells stories from somewhere in the middle without an introduction. These are a few examples.

         "I don't want to go to school today, Nanna. I hate jiggling."

         As we approached the school, I finally understood. Every morning, the students were encouraged to burn off energy before classes started by running laps around the dirt track. Emily did not like jogging. She had a point though. Most people do jiggle when they jog.

         "How many mittens before school starts?"

         This caused me to puzzle for a bit. Aha, Emily meant how many minutes. Again, I sort of saw her reasoning. A clock has hands and what do hands wear in the cold winter, mittens.

         Telling time has proven to be a difficult skill for Em to master. Yesterday, tomorrow, whatever.

         Losing something she uttered, "I had it the day after yesterday."

         Over the years, Syd, Em and I have enjoyed many 'sleep-me-overs.' I anticipate the same with Grandgiggle # 3, Alexandra.

         This may well be the bilingual grandchild with an English mother and a French father. At the age of two, she speaks both languages, but she picks and chooses which words she will utter the most. For example, she can say 'cat', but she prefers to say 'chat.' Her first distinct word was 'oiseau' which is French for bird and she still prefers it to bird. It's so cute to hear her offer a 'merci', or a 'thank you.'

         Now she is quick to declare," I coming" if I dare to leave the room without her. I laugh the most when Alexandra insists that her reluctant 'chat' and dog must be hugged. She confronts the pets with outstretched arms and this demand. "Give me cuddle!"

         My repertoire of nursery rhymes and kids' songs is proving useful. How could I have forgotten that "do the hokey-pokey' is fun? Even the calisthenics' classic 'head and shoulders knees and toes' is good for a laugh.

         So, oui, my three fantastic grandgiggles are sure to make me happy.