What are You Playing, Grandpa?

The inevitable happened. Four-year-old Naia finally got to go down to the basement with Grandpa (looking for something that might be wrong with the vent) and discovered what Grandma keeps in her basement: many years accumulation of creative dramatics puppets, props, stuffed animals, and costumes. I figured she'd be overwhelmed if she saw it, and she was. When I replaced my things she'd brought up, I thought of the many years and stories acted out. I guess it's time they get introduced to children's theater.
 (By the way, nothing was wrong with the vent. It was an old aerial t.v. set that got kicked on and was making noises. The thing about that was, it never ever turned itself on, and I could never switched it on ever again - strange.)

...And when Grandpa was sick at home, Naia talked to him on the cell phone and asked him, "What are you playing, Grandpa?" I guess when you play a lot of games with lots of gadgets in your house, and even do magic tricks, grandkids think that all you ever do is play. 
   He himself used to watch his own grand-dad take a deck of cards with him to work, but that was because they were having a strike there, and his grandfather was the foreman. When his grandfather came home, they played games together, so Bill thought that's all he ever did, too. 

Little Naia asked me what I was going to do with Grandpa tonight, and I replied, I don't know. So, she counseled me; I should go home; then, we could eat, then, "play with our toys", then, go to bed. We had a good laugh about it, but when you really think about it; I'm "playing" on the computer; he's "playing" pinball and pool (on a miniature pool table); we watch t.v., read books...She's got it right!

 — feeling entertained.

Once, when she was at a family gathering, she and Grandpa were coloring.  Then, she put one in his hand and left the basement.  She came upstairs, and I asked her where Grandpa was.  Her vocabulary was limited then, so she thought a minute, and said, "Markers".  I figured out where he was and what he was doing.  He'd been left holding a marker, so she thought he'd  entertain himself, coloring alone.

What Ever Happened to S&H Green Stamps?

I woke up this morning in a very good mood, which was surprising, as I'd gotten up with the clock radio music.  This was so I could get to choir.  In other words, I didn't have the luxury of sleeping in.
A little ditty kept going through my head as I prepared my coffee in Mr. Coffee.  It was a song which my brothers used to bring home to sing while they were still in college, to the tune of "Greensleeves".
"Green Stamps were all she gave.
Green Stamps were all I took.
Green Stamps were all I saved,
And I pasted them all in my Green Stamp Book."
I thought, "Boy, that sure dates me!"
Then, I thought of my daughter and me, pasting the accumulated stamps in the books, with our tongues turning green.  She said, she didn't like it, but she did it "to get all the stuff".  But then, I thought, "Gee, that even dates my daughter," whom I consider a young mom. 
Then, I thought about my early married life, when I'd accumulated enough stamps to put into books, from whence I bought a hair dryer.  Now, understand, I'm not talking hair blower...hair dryer.  You sit on your couch with curlers in your hair.  I didn't even need curlers.  My hair is naturally curly, but we women succumbed to pressure, so we all thought we needed them. This balloon puffs up around your head, attached to something that looks like the back of a clothes dryer, and you busy yourself with something, like maybe, reading recipe books,. That was because newly married women like me, didn't know "diddly squat". Still don't. 
Then, I realized, "Even the hair dryer dates me."
So, what ever happened to S&H Green Stamps!