A Simple Visit from a Fifth Grader, #SOL20 Day 19/Year 3

Today we watched a fifth-grader who is the daughter of one of the people my husband used to work with at the hospital. Her mom had to work today, so we volunteered to watch her for the day.

The visit started off by her being excitedly attacked by our Yellow Lab Puppy (she is now over 60 pounds) but still a puppy, mentally. Luckily, this ten-year-old has two labs at home who are both over 100 pounds. It seemed that an excited 60-pound pup was nothing to fear. After the ten minute greeting of jumping, licking, wagging, panting, & mouthing was over, she settled in with us to start the day.

We dug out a few games and Uno was chosen.  WE have Uno Attack that has a motorized chute that chucks cards at you indiscriminately and this intrigued our fifth-grade friend. Unfortunately, we ended up playing regular Uno because the motor was failing.  After a break, my husband went to get some fresh batteries thinking that was the problem but alas, it was not.  He then took the cover off and discovered that the rubber “band” that drove the card feeder was stretched out. My rubber band stash was called to the rescue! At that time we were definitely “Smarter than a Fifth Grader!”

But, as the day wore on she proved a formidable challenger in Uno – knowing which cards to save and play at the most opportune moment!

After lunch, we made a beaded bracelet for her mom out of my bead soup (leftover beads) and some stretchy cord. She decided on the beads and pattern by herself with a nice focal bead. I offered to tie it off and put a dab of super glue on the knot. Immediately after trimming the ends, the bracelet broke because I had cut through the stretchy cord. This move was definitely not smarter than a fifth grader! We all laughed it off and I restrung the bracelet.

More Uno was played after lunch when our guest asked if we could try out the card shooter or Uno Attack, now that my husband had fixed it. Just before she asked, I was preparing to have her help me with a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies made from scratch. Uno Attack won and I made the cookies while she played the game with my husband and one of our sons.

In between Uno, Cookies, and bracelet making, our guest used her cell phone to chat with her friends and videotape herself on a dance app. Our dog had to get in on that action, as you can imagine.

We sent her on her way about a half-hour ago when her Dad picked her up to take her home. I think our dog will miss her!

I thought I was prepared for her visit. But, I think I’ll be better prepared for the next one. First, I will double-check the games and make sure they are all working. Second, I will have a couple of “projects” more ready to go than I did today. Third, I will ask her mom if she should read for part of her visit, such as 30 minutes.  I happen to put her phone charger cord away as we were getting ready for her to leave and spied two books in her bag. And, fourth, I will hope it is not raining (like it was today) so we can play outside.

She told us she does miss school and seeing her friends. This brought us all back to the reality of our recent days. If it were not for this pandemic, she’d be sitting at her desk in the school building a mere 500 feet down the road from our home.

For now, I’ll relish my Uno wins, the chocolate chip cookies that were made, and the fact I got to destash some of my beads. Life was simple today, but it was also a good reminder to appreciate that simplicity.

Giveaway Information:

If you have not had the opportunity to visit my post from 3/15/2020 in which I celebrated my 1,000th blog post by hosting a photo give away, please do so soon! You can vote on your favorite photo by leaving a comment and the number by the end of the day on 3/20/2020 (tomorrow) and then be entered to win a photo of your choice to be announced on 3/21/2020. Good Luck!