Tyler's Heart

He's only five years old; but he's already five years old! And he's a rascal. Not just your typical rascal, but an entirely new level of rascalism. Even in the midst of his rascalism, he is delightful. And that is how it is with Ty: a study in paradoxes.

A few nights back he and his big brother spent the night with us. We had the typical day with a trip to the barber shop, homemade hamburgers and fries, pinball games, a movie and time spent on the porch discussing life.

Then bedtime came!! Any grandparent understands the routine at bedtime with the little ones away form home. The rules at Grandma's house are completely different from home rules. I'm actually fine with that - it is all part of the SpaGrandma experience. (Thanks for the term, Cat. It fits nicely.) This night Mister Tyler was particularly frisky.

Trent only wanted to go to sleep. No problems. No stress. Just let him sleep. Oh no! That was not going to happen. We went through water, bathroom, poking Trent, giggling, dropping teddy off the bed, dropping blankie off the bed, dropping pillow off the bed and then falling head first onto the floor and ending with a flourish of a somersault. Really quite entertaining. After almost an hour though it did get a little dicey around here. There had been first suggesting, then scolding, (complete with hand on hip and toe tapping by me) pleading (yes, I am not above that) promising the world, bribing -- nothing worked.

Grandaddy has had a few health problems lately and he wasn't feeling too well. He was trying to get to sleep but the noise and hyper "talk" was beginning to wear on him. I walked into the bedroom to find Ty standing by Trent trying to keep him awake. Of course Trent was over the whole Tyler thing too. After putting Ty back in his bed and turning up the sleep music a tad, I decided honesty was the best policy here. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Tyler, Granddaddy is not feeling well and you are keeping him awake."

TY: (eyes big and finger pointing at me) "You are not kidding, are you?"

Me: "No, Tyler, I am not kidding."

Ty: (still with the finger) "You would not kid about something like that, would you?"

Me: "No, I would not."  (Trent in the background: 'No, Ty, she isn't kidding!')

Ty: (pulls covers up under his chin and snuggles down with a sigh.) "OK...I was getting a little tired anyway."

By the time I was able to close my dropped jaw, Tyler was sleeping soundly with that angelic look on his face. Not another peep out of him til sometime late the next morning.

Two things to note here:

1. He knew all along what he was doing. It was a game for him. One grandparents all over the world play on a regular basis. I should know that by now.

2. When the chips are down, Ty's heart is as big as the moon and he loves his granddaddy fiercely.

Now that's something worth writing about!

Wishing everyone had the privilege of loving a Tyler.