Of the many incidents and stories related to Olive, one of my youngest grand daughters, this one story amazed me to this day and continues to be etched in my mind.
We were on holiday and my little granddaughter, Olive, who was just thirteen months old, slept peacefully in her tiny cot in the hotel room. Her mum and dad and the elder sister left to have breakfast in the cafeteria while I kept watch over her.
The sun rose over the lake, spreading its golden rays. I had one eye on the baby girl and the other eye and part of myself absorbing the serene beauty of the morning.
The baby stirred, rolled over and a few minutes later opened her eyes. I knew she expected to see her mum but there I stood next to her cot, her Grandma. Then she started crying. I picked her up and gave her a cheese stick from the box which was on her parent’s bed as advised by her mum. But yet she continued to cry with tears streaming down her pink face.
I picked her up and started to walk with her outside the room singing a lullaby to soothe her. But the baby cried louder and louder. So I walked back to the room with her and sat her on the bed.
To my amazement she kept on turning to look at the cot.
‘Ha!’ It dawned on me. She looked for her ‘Wah Wah’ , the pacifier or the little fluffy pink soft toy.
I said ‘ don’t move’ and with one hand on the baby and with one leg and hand stretched as far as possible, moved near to the cot and grabbed the ‘Wah Wah’. As soon as the pacifier was given to the baby’s hands, I thought she would stop crying.
But little Olive continued to cry, still turning and rolling to look at the cot. My eyes scrutinized the cot again. Hidden from all eyes, there was another tiny Wah Wah hidden in a far corner of the cot. Amazed, I picked that up too, with the same caution and handed it over to the baby.
She smiled, a big smile that stretched from her ear to ear and the next moment she stopped crying. Then as I continued to watch, another surprise for Aththamma. She very sweetly wiped her tears away with her Wah Wah.
Could there be any more surprises? I thought to myself.
Then came the biggest surprise. I watched in silent amazement. The little granddaughter stretched her little hand, picked a cheese stick from the box. Then looked at me for a few seconds and offered me the cheese stick, pointing it to my mouth.
Little bundle of joy, I thought.
They keep doing wonderful things that amaze their grandparents. But we, Aththammas and Aththas need to be observant, listen to our little grand kids, be in their shoes understanding their world and spread love and cheer.
What a wonderful feeling to delve in the moment with little Olive, to be part of her little world, which I think was abundant with so many loving and adorable surprises.
Diyamanthi Galpoththage – Auckland
