Bob's Corner
From our weekly issue dated June 03, 2009
Was “playing a game” the other day with granddaughter Ella Valentina Kaplan, who recently attained the age of 4 and had a Halloween cake for her party. The cake lady asked if the order was an error, what with it being May and not October. No mistake; Ella wanted a Halloween cake.
By the way, for those interested in namesakes, this lovely little girl is named for her great-grandmothers. My wife’s mom was named Luella; my mom was named Valentina.
But about the game we were playing. Ella always asks shyly, “Do you want to play a game with me?” Then she bats those big blue eyes and smiles, so what’s a grandfather to do? Oh, and she’s the one who named me PopPop; that’s what she and her sister, Natalie, 6, call me. And Jan is Nonna.
Back to the game. Ella likes to play Pick-Up Sticks. Actually, she likes to win playing Pick-Up Sticks. If she loses, she announces that she’s tired of the game and wants to play something else. It’s interesting playing any game with her, because she makes up the rules as we go along. I find it amusing and somewhat intriguing as to how she adapts to mistakes by changing the rules. In her favor. But what’s a grandfather to do?
For example, if she moves other sticks while getting one, she still gets to keep the one she was going for. If it happens to me, I don’t get to keep it. As I said, she likes to win.
We also played a memory game involving upside-down cards that need to be matched. She has a phenomenal memory. Either that, or she’s marked the cards and has a great future in a gambling casino.
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The other day we were riding somewhere, and she asked, “Do you want to play Guess What Song?” I responded, “Sure.” So she hummed a tune, and I listened intently. Could not figure out the title, although at 65 I’ve heard a lot of music. I gave up. Ella said, “It’s a song called I Like Nursery School. I just made it up.” I responded, “Oh ...” She then said that she had a second song for me. I said, “OK.”
Ella hummed her melody, and I recognized it as Mary Had A Little Lamb. I announced my answer. I was wrong. It was not Mary Had A Little Lamb. Instead, according to Ella, it was Daddy Had A Little Girl.
Then it was my turn, so I gave her Silent Night, which she did not recognize, despite my best humming. When I tried to render my second song, she stopped me cold. “You only get one song,” I was informed.
And I smiled because, what’s a grandfather to do?
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