Bluemax ARA Assoc

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• Personalized Baby Gifts

Remember when you were absolutely the only one would could Band-Aid a knee, read Hop on Pop, or even cook a hot dog? No one else on Earth but you could sew a teddy bear’s stuffing in or comb out knots or even flush that dead fish just so. You were required, necessary and essential-when you were needed.

Grandparents Those were the days when your child could not live without you. Your grandchild needs you, too. So, how come his mother acts like you’re some type of pox when you come to visit?

Daughters-in-law are not the easiest mothers to please. But, there are a few things to do that might smooth out some wrinkles along the way (no, sorry-not those wrinkles).

You may need to give up your need to be needed. You’re not the first line of defense anymore, and maybe your knees are telling you that’s a happy thing. How many times do you want to get down with the Legos or search for Barbie shoes under the couch? You can be there after Mommy washes the streaming blood off the screaming child’s chin and trundles down to soak the stains out of the new white shirt. You can be there to tell the story of when Daddy fell off his bike and got stitches in the ear he got caught in his spokes-and to hand over the ice cream.

You can be dessert. You don’t have to be meatloaf and broccoli, liver and kale, tofu cubes and soy-milk. You don’t have to be protein and carbs and fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, life-enhancing flavonoids, or any other such thing. You don’t have to be, you know-nutritious-at all. You can be hot fudge if you want.

That doesn’t mean you’re junk food-don’t go overboard. Maybe a good hot fudge sundae is just the right thing after a day of liver and kale. A perfect apple might be just right after an overdose of chicken nuggets (is it possible to underdose on chicken nuggets? The things they pass off as food today… .). And it’s possible that dessert might be a good walk in the park after a day strapped in a car seat. Dessert might even be some time reading together after an hour in front of the tube. At least with all your experience, you’ll have plenty of ideas on what’s the right treat for any situation, even if the rules on what’s the right meal have changed-and they change all the time.

Your grandchild has parents-and they’re not you. It’s your daughter-in-law’s turn to be required now.

So what if you’re not carrots? Who wouldn’t rather be a cookie?

for Baby Gifts
Cuddles ‘n Gifts LLC
502 E John St.
Carson City, NV, NV 89706
866-957-8675

• Baby Gift Baskets
• Baby Diaper Cakes

Shopping with Children I wonder if there is anyone out there who doesn’t dread shopping with children. Who doesn’t look with pity on any fellow mom dejectedly admitting to an afternoon of errands ahead-with toddlers in tow? Even mentioning a grocery store run brings on a shudder and heartfelt condolences. There have been times when I myself borrowed milk from a neighbor rather than face those aisles with my precious little darlings pattering along behind.

Shopping with Children Sometimes, it gets so bad, that I think the children have ruined shopping. My mother would suggest an afternoon at the mall, and I’d look at her as if she were some pod grandma from an alien torture mill. No, I most decidedly do not want to go to the mall, Mother, and watch my kids transform into bounding balls of greed, little proto mega consumers that want everything they see. I’m not ‘Mom’ at the mall; I’m ‘MommommomcanIhave?’.

Now, I understand that commerce is the American way, and ordinarily I do my part for the economy, don’t get me wrong. I like malls as much as any other citizen and enjoy trolling for stuff I want but don’t need. It used to be fun. I even used to like the grocery store-especially when I could score some tasty samples. Oh, and the warehouse super store with the giant everything? I could spend hours, not to mention dollars, there-back in the day.

So what’s a mother to do? I don’t have a clue.

I’m waiting for some age and/or maturity to kick in as my first strategy. Some day my son won’t expect to find baseball cards or lacrosse sticks in the women’s lingerie store, and my daughter won’t want every single stuffed or plastic animal she spies. I don’t hold out much hope that we’ll all agree on a shopping destination anytime soon, but I can foresee the day we’ll manage it better. Groceries, at least, will be attainable, and the neighbors won’t have to lock their refrigerators when they see me coming up their walk.

Another point in favor of just waiting it out: eventually the kids don’t have to go with me. There will come a day when my son whines, "I don’t wanna go!" (but probably in a deeper voice), and I’ll be able to say, "Fine, don’t," and it will all be legal. My daughter will balk at the thought of the hardware store, and I will be able to leave her home. It will all be fun again, I hope.

In the meantime, of course, there’s the internet. I do online shopping for everything: groceries, clothes, toys, pet meds, and miscellaneous-which everyone knows in a typical American household is the largest category. All I have to do is fire up the hard drive and take off, and it’s a win/win all the way: No kids in tow, no gas guzzled, no globe warmed. And the best part is, I don’t even have to shower! I may miss the leisurely walk and talk through the mall with my mom, but I can make up for it surfing the net, where there are no aisles, no walls, and no worries.

for Baby Gift Baskets
Cuddles ‘n Gifts
11941 Birch St.
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
866-957-8675