Priceless - Part 2

Last Friday I drove to Nashville TN to pick up my grandson from his great-grandmother's house and take care of him for a few days. My son was on tour and would not be back until late Friday night. He asked me to pick up Ronan and then stay for the weekend. The visit started when I pulled up to his great grandmother's house and Ronan was on the balcony watching for me. She said that he had been asking all day "when will my grandma get here?" We visited for a short while, his great grandmother is on his mother's side, and then Ronan insisted we leave.

On the way to my son's house Ronan decided he "REALLY had to potty" but we were in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate and could not find a place to stop. So once we pulled into his dad's driveway Ronan got out of the car, dropped his pants and peed in the front yard. Remember this is Tennessee, and his dad lives in a small country town. I just acted like it was no big deal for him to drop trow and potty in the front yard.

The rest of the weekend alternated between wonderful fun times and clashing heads and wills. Ronan's parents are not together any longer so this almost-4-year-old is struggling with the differences in expectations between his mom's and dad's houses. Then you throw in grandma who is totally clueless and we definitely had some clashing of the wills to navigate. He has trouble with boundaries (No, Ronan that is Grandma's phone). He also struggles with bedtime (Grandma, I'm not tired. But Ronan Grandma is tired).

We had a wonderful time between the clashing of our wills and tempers. We had to have a few talks about respecting other people's property. We also had to talk about boundaries with his NERF guns - "No you do not shoot people in the face or head with your NERF bullets!)

The weekend was priceless and ended with many hugs and both of us telling each other we love each other and will miss each other when I went home. He is a normal, energetic, lively, and totally lovable boy (No, I am not showing favoritism).

I went home totally exhausted. I told my husband, who did not make the trip, "Don't talk to me I need some extended quiet time!"

We will be returning in a few weeks. I can't wait to see him again.