Friday, January 05, 2007

Belated Christmas morning shots!

We had a great Christmas morning at MIL's house. We are so incredibly blessed with mothers who have taken on grandmotherhood so gracefully.

MIL bought a house on a river with an attic so the children can boat during the day, then have their own (very low ceilinged!) living quarters at night. We had a few days before Christmas at her house, then left after Christmas lunch.

We drove down to Sydney where we enjoyed my mother's newly landscaped garden. Previous visits have been a little stressful as the house is festooned with fragile objects placed at toddler height, and the garden used to contain a rarely used but constantly dangerous swimming pool. The pool has been replaced by a perfectly sized lawn, surrounded by gardens and courtyards, with outdoor dining at tables for 8 and 4 people (so adult and children tables are easily arranged!), and a gazebo will soon be installed for even more fun! I was so impressed to arrive and find that Mum had even arranged for a small bike for Ginger Rose to ride around the new paths!

The best Christmas present was the Ginger Ninja's new flute, which makes a big difference to his playing, and which he was surprisingly delighted to receive.



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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

because i'm very interested in the idea of "grandmotherhood," a search in technorati led me here. i'm impressed with your comments about your MIL and own mother in arranging their homes to work for your young children.

i'd be interested in what you think about this grandmother's ideas in my post today. -naomi in new york city

Domestic Adventuress said...

I think it's good to remember that Grandmotherhood doesn't occur in isolation to the rest of your life. The grandparents in our childrens' lives have made huge changes in their availability and committment to active grandparenting depending on their current relationships and work committments.