A Grandma Story

Wednesday I had the pleasure of accompanying my four year old grandson to the birthday party of a schoolmate. The kids finish school at 2 pm and the party was to begin at 3. We would have 45 minutes before we had to walk over to the house.

I was not familiar with the house but I knew the street. To increase my comfort level and be sure I got us there in time, before I picked up Tern I tried to find the exact house. I needed #16. Steve's bike store is #4 on that street so I had a starting point. Steve told me in which direction to walk from the bike shop.

Did I mention that I was born with a major flaw? I have no sense of direction. In fact, 99% of the time if I choose the way to go, it is the wrong way. I do not trust myself to get anywhere, except that I am good at reading maps which would not have helped in this situation. I hope to be one of the first people to have a compass embedded to help with this problem. But Wednesday I was on my own.

I walked a little, passing a pharmacy then coming to a bunch of nondescript apartment buildings with no numbers. So I thought perhaps I made an error and went back to the bike shop and beyond. No buildings in that directions. It was getting time to pick Tern up at school so I was about to give up when a man who looked local was passing by. Luckily he understood English. I told him I was looking for #16 on that street and he directed me back the way I went at first and assured me I would find it there.

I picked Tern up and we played in the schoolyard for a while. It was a very hot day and there was a big tree shading the area. It made for some nice one-on-one time. Then I decided we needed to get going if I was to find the party. Of course I did not tell Tern that I was almost clueless. I faked being a grandma-about-town. We continued to the street passing the bike shop and the pharmacy, tried to short cut around the shops which was a dead end, laughed that off with an oops, continued down the street, came to an alley where the nondescripts were and saw a sign with an arrow leading to #10, 12, 14, 16. Hallelujah!

As soon as we reached the correct building I found the fatal error in my plan. I had no idea what apartment Tern's friend lived in. I did not know the family name so the names on the mailboxes were no help. I did not know the Mom's name. I don't have a cell phone. There was no one to ask. I knew this was an ingenuity test.

I said to Tern (who I knew saw through me) that we were going to play a game in the dim hallway. We had to be very quiet and listen at each door. When we heard the sound of kids playing we would be at the party. We listened at the two doors on the first floor, nothing. We listened on the second floor, the first door was quiet, but I heard the right kind of sounds at the second door. I prayed I was right. I knocked and sure enough we were there. Tern happily ran off to play.

I thought I could relax now. My job was done. The 6 kids were then herded downstairs to the back garden which was on a lower level than the front door and around the back of the building. The Mom planned to be the only adult at the party. I elected to stay as I wanted to watch them play.

I explain this because the kids were playing in the yard with water toys on the grass and her son, the birthday boy, cut his foot on a blade of grass almost as soon as the party began. He was crying inconsolably and finally she had to take him upstairs for bandaging and his blankey. Meanwhile, if I had not decided to stay, there would have been no one to stay with the other 5 kids while she dealt with the crisis. This went on, as she brought only a small pitcher of water downstairs and it was a very hot day, so she had to go back upstairs a couple of times to refill the water.

I had a great time. The kids were wonderful and they got it that I did not speak their language. Tern translated when necessary. The one thing they all understood was that I could unwrap their lollipops. There were no serious casualties, and the party ended two hot, exhausting hours later.

Tern and I walked home hand in hand. He asked me if I knew the French word for crosswalk, which I did not, he told it to me, then told me that he was teaching me French and teaching his teachers English. We continued home learning vocabulary along the way.


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