Sunday, October 14

Party Mode.

Yesterday was party day.
Small Grandson will be 5 on Monday. His paternal grandparents don't live close, so they don't often get to see him. They came to visit for his party yesterday, & brought his little cousin, who is 5 months younger. They are great mates & play together in harmony, with similar tastes in games etc.

I think the hit of SG's gifts, was a cowboy hat, & some guns, with spurs handcuffs, a Sherriff badge & some gun holsters. Both boys just loved them. They capered around playing all sorts of games, & generally had a really great time. Our daughter does not really approve of 'guns'. But you can't stop little boys from liking them. They will make them out of fingers, or sticks, if there are no 'real' ones.

It was a warm fine day, but the flies were vicious, & swarming. When a breeze came up that chilled aging bones, it was decided we would go indoors. Which had mixed blessings. There was music playing. Paternal Grandfather said to his son, "Your taste in music has mellowed!" Son replied, "It is not my music!! It is J's" DJ then said she chose it because it was about our era, so she knew we would like it. Which was very considerate.

The level was a tad too loud for me, & I fiercely resisted the urge to get up & reduce the volume! I find conversing against a competeing noise is very tiring. A sign of getting old I suppose.

I was utterly disgusted with myself for forgetting my camera, so dont have one photo to show! I am hoping the other grandparents, who took quite a few, will send me some copies.

Paternal Grandfather is a computer fan. He told us he has now got a laptop, & can sit out in their lounge with Paternal Grandmother, his wife, & play on the computer. PM doesn't like the computer at all, & doesn't understand how he can be so besotted.

The situation is somewhat similar here, but I don't have a laptop. Gom declares I have chairs growing from certain regions of my body! He fails to understand the fascination. When I wake him early in the morning with gales of laughter, he just shrugs, rolls over, & goes back to sleep. I have tried to interest him, but he gets impatient.

I suspect it must be quite common in marriages now. One partner is completely hooked, while the other is not a bit interested?

******
Gom has taken quite an interest in food for gatherings, & if we have friends around, will organise some nibbles. It used to fall to me to do all the foodie type things, & I am quite happy for him to display his flair, now.

He is an excellent Asparagus Roll maker, & these seem to have been a hit with our Aussie friends, who had previously never had them. Sorry, I don't have a photo, I should have taken one yesterday, before we went off to the party, as they were a great hit again, & PG & PM had not had them before, or even seen them.

We used to go out for dinner a lot with friends when we were younger, & I loved to try new foods. I would come home & try to recreate the dish, then inivte friends around to see what they thought. DJ does that too, & she is really good at nailing the sauces.

We dont get out so much these days, & eating in food courts can be quite fraught. Having to watch young children who seem to regard their nose as a snack box can be very off-putting to a dining experience. Also watching blubber being added to lard, can be disconcerting.

Just as distressing to me, is watching the skeletal, &/or chubby, young things who 'delicately' pick at morsels of their food with their fingers, poking small bits into their mouths. What is that? Are they not taught it is rude to eat with your fingers? Do they imagine they are being 'dainty'?

It is as if the thin, are afraid they might put on a few kilos by using a fork. The chubby pretend they are really only small eaters, their size belying their actions. A fork would be gobbling??

I think I prefer to watch the giant lad wolfing his food as if he is never going to encounter another meal! The elderly who eat with gentle steady pace, carefully holding their knife & fork correctly, until their plate is quite clean.

When you grow up being told not to waste, & not to 'be greedy' you tend to develop a slower pace. I suspect now that so many people eat off their knees in front of the TV, table manners are becoming a thing of the past? We, too, are guilty of snacking off a tray. But for family gatherings, the table with the full cultery, plus china & trimmings are nice.

Do manners still count? I feel sorry for the kids who don't have the chance to learn table manners.

Rod Stewart, Fool for You.

16 comments:

LBA said...

I too hate toy guns and the like, yet have already been 'shot at' with bite-shaped toast, and another time by a plumbing pipe 'elbow'.

*sigh*

As for computers - possibly.
AB has no interest at all, but seems content to leave me to it. I guess if i'm happy, he's happy too ? And it keeps me occupied and shuts me up too I suppose, so he can watch sports in peace....

Mike said...

My wife has no interest in computers at all and for the most part is very frustrated with them. I, on the other hand, am hopelessly addicted.

I think that most young kids totally lack manners and the ones that do have them these days stick out like a sore thumb.

Looking at what I just typed about manners, I am afraid I have become my father.

Blue Moon Girl said...

Happy Birthday to SG! I hope that his Paternal Grandparents send you some pictures. I totally understand about the guns thing. I think it's something strange that little boys are just born with. They can manage to make anything into a gun and make gun sounds from the time they're tiny.

I am completely hooked on the computer and the internet. I can spend forever looking up random things and reading stuff. Mr. B likes to use the internet for a few things, but not nearly as much as I do.

As for manners, even though it will make me feel like my grandmother, I totally agree with you on no learning table manners. It's sad.

Aunty Evil said...

Meggie, I think it is going to be the year of the flies.

They are already in their thousands, and its only spring!

Manners are a thing of the past, I fear. Makes me mad!

Linda G. said...

There was a story/joke making the rounds about forty years ago:

A couple with young children determined not to allow them to grow up with stereotypical ideas about male and female rolls in life, so at Christmas they gave their little boy a baby doll and their little girl a toy truck.
The children were playing quietly in their room, so the parents crept to the door to see how they were doing with their new toys. The girl was sitting in a little rocker cuddling and rocking the truck while the boy crawled around the floor pushing the doll about and making motor noises. The same principle seems to apply to boys when it comes to toy guns...

Ali Honey said...

Manners of all sorts still count and should be encouraged by example. ( Please and Thank you, respect for others and their property, offering help of many kinds, still brings a smile to the other person's face; worth doing I think)
We have quite a lot of South African folk around this area and they have such lovely manners and so do their children.

Stomper Girl said...

So true what you say little boys and guns. I'm like your daughter and H&B, I won't have them in the house and Climber has had the full lecture about them being things which are designed to take away life and cause pain and suffering and so that is why I don't approve.... he still pretends to shoot things though. What can you do?

Joyce said...

I am so happy that all my grandchildren have good manners, at least when they visit here.
Both DH and I have our own computers. We tried sharing but it didn't work. Lol. I do most of the trouble shooting but when it gets beyond me (fairly quickly) I call my sons or grandsons. I am about to call them because the wireless router is not working so no laptop for me right now.

Sheila said...

Happy Birthday to your Grandson..xo
I've wondered about the manners we see today too.
A friend's husband works for a bank, and now when someone is shortlisted for a position they are asked to lunch. If their manners are not up to snuff they do not get the job.As so many business meetings are taken over meals, they feel it essential the applicant can eat without embarassing him/herself and the company. A good idea yes?

Lucy said...

Asparagus rolls sound good!
Just as well perhaps if both parties aren't hooked on the computer, or you'd have to fight for it!
Tom started being much more appreciative of my writing and photography when other people started saying nice things about it on the blog! He reads mine, and other people's sometimes, but isn't hooked.
You can offset your computer habit against GOM's secret soap addiction!

Pam said...

Happy birthday to SG from me too.

Meggie, I really loved your "magnet principle" post. It was so well written and so true. . I've noticed it most at craft fairs - if there are several people round one stall, then a crowd tends to gather with the hope, I suppose, that there's something really good there.

~Bren~ said...

Happy Birthday to SG!! Wow 5 is a really exciting age. And the cowboy stuff was the BESTEST gift in his eyes I am sure!!

Sarah Nopp said...

Asparagus roll... my friends and I make these a lot. I wonder if they are the same ones.
We do thin sliced ham with cream cheese wrapped around asparagus spears.
Same?

Unknown said...

You're so right about little boys and guns - toast crusts and bent sticks always get drafted in even if the kids have hardly ever seen any of the real thing - very strange!

Marja said...

First Happy birthday to SG I've worked a lot with children and if you don't give them guns they will use sticks as guns.
As for the computers here it is the same. My hubby has no relationship with the computer at all.

fifi said...

I have done all I can to teach my daughter manners but she wold happily scoop her dinner into her mouth with her hand if left to her own devices.
A pleasant moments reading inside of of this icy rain!
You would HATE it!
but there dont seem to be any flies.