My granddaughter Margo Facetimed me Sunday morning as we were setting up our Packer tailgate.
At nearly 20-months old, she has become quite the chatterbox. Also, I have been shameless in coming up with games that teach her to say my name.
On Sunday, after a lively round of “La-la-la-la-la,” which always makes her laugh, I upped the ante.
“Margo, I want to teach you something,” I said, setting pretense aside. Listen, when you live almost 1,000 miles away from your granddaughter, you have to maximize your time together. So, I jumped right in. “This is your first lesson. Can you say, ‘I love LaLa?'”
I envisioned daily lessons until she mastered the magic phrase.
But, she’s a bright cookie. She said it right back to me.
Honestly, my heart stopped a minute. I was so thrilled I told everyone at the tailgate. Now, I get to remember exactly where I was the first time my grandchild said she loves me.
About five minutes later a video popped up on the family chain. There she was saying it again! I’m researching how to make that sweet little video my ring tone.
I would love to be the grandma my son and daughter in-law call when a meeting has run long and they need someone to pick Margo up from daycare, or when she spikes a fever in the middle of the night and they’re out of Tylenol, or when it’s dress-up day at the daycare and they want to borrow some brown socks.
I can’t be that grandma because I live too far away. Thankfully, Margo does have a Grandma Debbie who lives nearby and is happy to do all of those things.
We plan to get out to New Jersey regularly so we can join Margo’s other grandparents at the dance recitals and soccer games.
In the meantime, though, I just so thrilled with the technology that allows us to feel as connected as we do, for the opportunity to teach and to learn from a tiny grandchild who lives far away, and to tell her as often as I like…
I love you too.
P.S. My sisters, “the little girls”, called me YaYa when they were young and that nickname lasted quite a few years. So, I think it’s pretty cool that Margo calls me YaYa now.
