Gifts From My Granddaughters – Spit-up, Stickers & Fruit Snacks

I just returned from Iowa where I helped my daughter and son-in-law with a new baby, a five-year-old and a two-year-old. After eight days of playing, baking, cleaning, burping, feeding, diapers, scolding, wagon rides, swinging, rocking, hugging, reading books and drying tears I was ready to come home.

However, my adorable little granddaughters all sent me home with some memorable gifts. 

Emma, 5, and Ruby, 2, love stickers, as all little girls do. The house rule is that stickers can only go on sticker books, their desks or themselves. With a huge book of Hello Kitty stickers they were really in need of a place to put the stickers that wouldn’t get them into trouble. I had some magazines in my suitcase, so out they came and the sticker free-for-all began. Except for a few stray stickers that Grandma discreetly peeled off the dining room table, and some that were put on Grandma, the result was grandly decorated magazines. 

(Emma & Ruby coloring at library story time)

The night before I was to leave I did laundry, making sure my comfortable “flying clothes” were clean. An hour before leaving for the airport, I was feeding baby Payton when she spit-up. Well, it was actually more like throw-up and I managed to catch most in the burp rag – but not all. Some landed on my pants leg and a little splattered onto my blouse. Rather than change I chose to just scrub it with a damp cloth. Good enough. 

(Baby Payton)

As I pulled my suitcase out to the kitchen, Ruby, sitting at the kitchen counter felt the need for a hug and buried her face in my stomach, cheesy, Cheeto crumbs and all. Most of it brushed off. 

Finally at the airport, after hugs and kisses all around I stood at the sidewalk to wave goodbye, when Emma started to giggle, not an unknown phenomenon with her, and said “What’s on your shoe, Grandma?” 

It was a sticker. I just left it there. 

Waiting to board, I pulled out my magazines to once more admire the sticker artwork when I felt a bulge in one and something lumpy in another. 

Opening the magazines I found several colored pictures stuffed into one and some rather smashed fruit snacks and a juice stained page in another.

The gifts that keep on giving.

Cheri Cabot

Cheri is a freelance writer, living in Southern California.  She has two grown children and is the proud grandmother of three. Cheri is also a purveyor of fine coffee, warm chatter and dry wit.



You can find all of Cheri’s columns on Personal About Politics at www.personalpolitcs.gather.com, The Obama Watch at theobamawatch.gather.com  or her home page here, www.ccabot.gather.com.