Image: Pixabay
Quite what came over me, I’ll never know… but it seemed like a good idea. I was wrapping my granddaughter’s birthday presents when it occurred to me… they were all all the princessy things which she loves, to play dressing-up. It fuels a child’s imagination, and, when I go round to see her, I invariably end up wielding a wand, wearing a crown or a witch’s hat, drinking tea from empty cups or with hair like a rainbow Rapunzel. Why not, thought I, go round in ‘princess mode’ instead and give her a surprise?
I rummaged through my own ‘dressing up’ gear, combining the workshop wardrobe department with some imagination of my own and, five minutes later, was robed and regalia’ed up to the eyeballs. It was, if I say so myself, a fair approximation of Hollie’s dress-up-princess… apart from several decades of age-difference.
The dog, her curiosity satisfied and sufficient hair deposited on my skirts to mark them as her territory, eyed me askance as I picked up the presents and headed for the door. Thanks to Ani, I would be more of a furry grandmother than a fairy godmother. But that was the least of my problems…
For a start, I had forgotten that it was still daylight. The car is parked at some distance from the house and crossing the street would leave me very visible… and as Halloween is long past, I had no excuse…
I put my head down and made a dash for it. So far so good. I hadn’t reckoned with the stares from passing motorists and pedestrians, nor had I, until the other car reversed out of the driveway straight at mine, considered the potential embarrassment of having an accident whilst dressed like a fairy…
The short drive was suddenly fraught with danger. Hazards on bikes, unheeding motorists and oblivious pedestrians seemed to attend every yard… It was with a huge sigh of relief that I arrived at my granddaughter’s home.
Now, about this time, it finally occurred to me that her other grandparents, her uncles, aunts and cousins, could well be there too… There is a lesson in forethought here. All I had wanted to do was surprise my little granddaughter on her birthday. Instead, I was possibly about to create a village legend. Never mind, I thought, it would make Hollie smile.
I opened the door… Hollie took one look, shouted ‘Grandma!’ and squealed with delight. She didn’t even notice I was all dressed up! All she saw was her grandma…and the sparkly packages I was carrying.
Not so my son, who collapsed in a puddle of mirth, or his partner’s family… all lined up on the couch… who thought it was hilarious. His partner, trying to hide her laughter, asked politely what I’d been up to dressed like that. ‘She’s a princess‘, her mother explained, almost exploding with merriment. By this time, the whole room was in fits of giggles… all except my granddaughter and her little cousins who were completely unfazed by my sartorial strangeness.
“I’ll never live it down…” The cameras were busy… “Not for a couple of years at least…” said the latest arrival, grinning. My son, by this time, is occupied teaching his daughter to tap her head and say ‘Cuckoo….’ Hollie herself, royally attired in her new, frothy, princess outfit, thought this was funny, though still seemed to see nothing unusual about grandma. I am not certain whether or not to be reassured by that.
With dignity, Hollie blew out her three candles, ate her cake and decided the two of us would retire to the kitchen floor to do jigsaw puzzles together where we spent a pleasant hour playing quietly. By the time I left, she had still neither noticed nor questioned why grandma looked weird or why everyone was still laughing. None of the children had done so.
I thought that was beautiful.
The adults had laughed at the discrepancy between normality and my appearance. Hollie had only seen Grandma. A child sees only who you are, not how you dress or what you pretend to be.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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Thank you again 🙂
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You must be the MOST fun grandma in the whole world. I didn’t have grandparents — they all died when I was a baby — so maybe you’d like to be mine?
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I was lucky enough to have all of mine and, like Hollie, many of my great-grandparents too. We don’t realise as children how much we learn from just having them there.
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I love this Sue! It’s definitely something I would do, or that I do when I am teaching! Children really are teh purest form. They see everything unadulterated, literally!
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I can imagine, Ritu 🙂
Interesting when you look at the central component of that word, ‘unadulterated’… it is rather sad to think that adulthood should ‘lessen’ life… x
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As I typed it, I actually thought the same thing… adulthood isn’t all it makes out to be, eh!
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I would agree with you on that 😉
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😀
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Hollie is lucky to have a grandma like you. 🙂
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I enjoy her company 🙂
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This is just beautiful! And no doubt you were the perfect princess 🙂
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Cross-legged on the kitchen floor… as near perfect as I am likely to attain 🙂
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It’s where all the best princesses hang out 😉
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I’m down with that 😉
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Yup – I’m betting in 100 years, you’ll be remembered as the most FANTABULOUS, FURRY GODMOTHER, EVER!!!! 😀 anything less, doesn’t count, anyhoo – – 🙂
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I’m counting on the ‘anything less’ 😉
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That’s too bad, I’m betting your Fantabulous Fairy/Furry Godmother will be remembered for ages – both by those who later remember they shouldn’t have been ‘adulting’ it so much AND sure the memory is pristine from the kiddos – cuz ya know, they just know who to accept magic and beauty, when it shows up without ‘whying’ it to death – – LOL
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That was the most striking bit of the whole afternoon… the children never noticed or asked why.
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Which is why, Children are Perfect! Until Adulting world messes it all up! LOL – My prayer as a parent, “Please, let me not mess them up too badly….” LOL
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Yep… I have prayed that same prayer 🙂
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🙂 Which is why you have grand-daughters who say, “Grandma!!!” and not “who is that?!?” LOL – I like to think in admidst the laughter, the 1st generation, later on, said, “Ahhh, Mom sure knows how to make the event fun, eh?” – – LUB –
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She fairly screamed when I arrived, bless her 🙂 I’d like to think so too…though I doubt they phrased it quite so politely 😉
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😀
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So funny, Sue! Yet, with a beautiful lesson as well. You are an awesome grandma, obviously 🙂
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I don’t know about that, but Hollie seems to approve 🙂
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Of course she does 🙂
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🙂
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This brought tears to my eyes, with beautiful memories for you both Sue. Happy Birthday Hollie. xX ❤
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Thank you. There were tears in my son’s eyes too, Jane…though for an altogether different reason 😉 xx
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Chuckling ❤ Xx
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❤ xx
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thank you 🙂
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Children are amazing, aren’t they? We learn so much from just being around them.
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They are… and we do. We could probably learn a good deal more if we took the time too 🙂
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Pingback: On being a furry grandmother… | Campbells World
Thanks for reblogging 🙂
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Reblogged at http://campbellsworld.wordpress.com/ .
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Thank you for sharing 🙂
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I was hoping for pictures 🙂 that sounds like such an amazing happy day and Princess grandma in full regalia, priceless ❤
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I was hoping there would be NO pictures…but I have a feeling there are several lurking 😉 But it was a lovely day 🙂
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What a wonderful post, Sue. I love it that Hollie didn’t notice how you were dressed!
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So did I, Mary. It was such a graphic illustration of the difference between child and adult wsys of seeing the world .
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Pure joy. Furry, fairy, still a princess. And she only saw you. Success !!!
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That ws the best gift of all 🙂
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Kudos to you for thinking of the child first!!!
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The child in me enjoyed it too 🙂
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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I hope this one make you smile 🙂
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thanks, Michael 🙂
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I can see a similar scene playing out in my future someday 😉
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Yes, I can too 🙂
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Charming! ❤
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🙂 ❤
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What every grandma should aspire to – and granddad (though they may wish to try a different outfit!)
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Well, if and when you do… we want pictures 🙂
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Made me smile Sue. 🙂
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I’m glad, Di… everyone seemed to have a giggle at least 🙂
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😀
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A child only sees the person, what is on the inside. This is a wonderful story, Sue. Happens every day in my classroom with “Gloria.”
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I can imagine, Jennie…and how valuable a member of your clas she is 🙂
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🙂
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Good for you. Hollie will remember this special birthday years later and you will always be the cool grandmother!! Why do adults always take themselves so seriously I will never know. Love this!!
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She probably won’t remember…she didn’t notice at all…and that was the joy of it. I agree, though, we learn to take ourselves far too seriously!
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Perhaps she understood your secret identity all along. 🙂 … also, I think it would be a hoot to dress up and regale the neighbourhood regularly. You now have a reputation to uphold.
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They already think me weird enough around here 😉
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That’s why we love children – the trappings don’t matter. 🙂
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They are always a breath of fresh air 🙂
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That’s why I love children, and why I insist I’m never going to grow up. 😉
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I see no reason to grow up… you can still mature without going that far 😉
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This is such a sweet story, Sue. That is the sort of thing I would do. You are right about children, they do not see the external trappings.
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No, they have no need of the stuff we adults like to think important.
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Beautiful Sue. Through the eyes of a child indeed. ❤
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And she is such a gorgeous little minx. ❤
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❤ ❤
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Really sweet, Sue. 🙂 — Suzanne
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It was both fun and enlightening, Suzanne.
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We deserve a picture!
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I am afraid I have none…though I am assured there are some somewhere…
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