A Hose is All You Need - Summer Activities with Grandchildren

The older woman kept tentatively picking up items, reading the boxes, thinking, and placing them back on the shelves. I had come specifically for an inexpensive outdoor pool, and found what I wanted rather quickly.

As I passed the woman with my pool, she touched my arm gently and said, "I am looking for something for my great-granddaughter. She is 9 months old and will be visiting me with her parents for a week." She smiled a smile of complete love. But then she added, "I have no idea what outdoor toys to buy. Do you?"

Ah. I guess my pool made me look rather like an outdoor child expert. I told her that I am a grandma, and that my grandkids love anything to do with bubbles. So we began looking at all the bubbles paraphernalia. There was every bubbles thing imaginable, from the old-fashioned small bottle with the small wand, to the most elaborate bubbles machines. She settled on the small bottle with the small wand.

Then we began to look at pails and shovels. Again, there were small red pails with attached shovels. There were grandiose pails, with all manners of plastic hoes and rakes and spades. And, oh yeah, shovels. And there was everything in between. She smiled as she placed the small red pail and shovel into her shopping cart.

Then she asked me about my pool. I explained that my grandkids range in age from 1 to 7, and I have two more grandbabies due this summer. She heartily congratulated me as she put her arms around me for a huge hug. Then she said, with great love and conviction, "Have you tried a garden hose?" We both began to laugh. Then she said, "What has technology done that we cannot just get out the old garden hose, a tin pail and shovel, and blow on a bit of dishwashing detergent to make bubbles."

All along, she was, in fact, the outdoor children's department expert. I wonder if she is available for consultations?!