Sunday, June 2, 2013

The Plastic Bag Princess turns five

What's a doll dress without glitter?
ViolaMae and I have had an exceptional year of togetherness, to a degree that we are unlikely ever to repeat. Now, as she turns five (already!?!), I have been thinking about the dramatic changes in her life this year and the wonderful bonding opportunities we've had.

Last September Augie started all-day kindergarten. For the first time in her life, ViMae didn't have her older brother (by 15 months) at her side.

She was lonely for a day or two, and then she began, in a dozen different ways, to blossom. She came to relish our undivided attention. She developed the confidence to choose activities she enjoyed. No longer always interrupting herself to check on her brother, she displayed an impressive attention span.

The Plastic Bag Princess
She and I soon found ourselves spending hours each day doing crafts--drawing, painting, stitching, stickering, making and decorating doll dresses, creating holiday decorations of her unique design, cataloging the shell and rock collection Peter gave her, even writing and illustrating a couple of books. (For the messiest crafts, she wore a big plastic bag as a smock, and I dubbed her the Plastic Bag Princess after a favorite princess-as-hero book, The Paper Bag Princess.)

Among other things we also read, picked flowers in the garden, played DragonVale on the iPad, made up stories, and played dress-up with colorful scarves serving as skirts or veils. 

To top things off, we both began to dance, singly and together. Early last fall we danced programs dreamed up by Vi. A sample directive: "I'll be a rosebud and you be a fairy princess that touches me with her wand and I'll rise up out of the ground and open like a flower."

Shhh...a preview!
Shortly after that she enrolled in a dance class; I've been taking her there every Tuesday morning and helping her practice between classes. That's how I learned about the tap class I began in January. Now we are dancing together in a parent-child class preparing a production number for the recital, which is this week. I'll have more to say, but I want to note that she is giving me a huge gift by dancing with her grandma! I hope that in turn I'm helping her develop a long-term interest in dance.

 As Vi's personality has emerged this year, it is clear that she is very creative in ways that draw upon not coloring within the lines, literally or figuratively.

Coloring outside the lines
She has blossomed as a natural spinner of stories, mixing real-world settings with fanciful ones. She can pick up any little thing and make it the protagonist of a lengthy narrative, or the centerpiece of a craft construction.

She loves pink, princesses, fairies, dragons, flowers, ballet, gymnastics, swimming, shells, rocks, and dresses with twirly skirts. Wherever we go, she tends to wear a fancy dress with casual leggings or pants beneath, to protect her knees in case she climbs a tree or hangs upside-down on playground equipment. On the other hand, she might decide to show up in her dragon costume. And all winter she loved walking into preschool wearing her jacket backwards, with the hood up, holding my hand for navigation.

In princess dress in Pa's workroom
She still loves to be with her brother, and we see that every morning while they are both here for breakfast. But when he isn't around she is quite happy to spend time with Peter and me, and sometimes to play by herself. She makes friends wherever she goes. At a playground or a library story hour she gravitates to other children and melds effortlessly into the group, sometimes becoming the group's new leader. We hear her organizing their games and we never see signs of resistance or resentment. Watching her show some children how to use a big sculptural toy at the library last week, Peter said, "She's going to be a teacher."

Whatever she turns out to be, she will follow her own heart, win people over with her charm, and approach each situation without a lot of pre-set boundaries and limitations. It has been such a joy to spend time with her this year and get to discover her strengths, even as she herself discovers and flexes them.

And oh, by the way, Happy Birthday, sweet ViolaMae. I love you very, very much!




22 comments:

Far Side of Fifty said...

A very Happy Birthday to your princess ViMae! How fortunate she is to have Grandparents that can care for her while her parents are working and Augie is at school. What a wonderful winter you have had together..personally I love the idea of putting your coat on backwards..I think I will try that sometime:)

Teresa Evangeline said...

What an absolutely beautiful birthday gift/tribute to your granddaughter. How wonderful it must be to see her blossoming more every day...

DJan said...

The two previous commenters are some of my favorite people already. They said it well, and I also want to offer my own take on this wonderful relationship: you are BOTH incredibly lucky to have one another. There is the tiniest bit of envy in my open heart, which needs to be honored too. Love that last picture. What a beauty she is! :-)

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The Broad said...

What a charming pair you two make! I am bowled over at the thought of you two dancing together! Wonderful wonderful! Having had a very special relationship with my own grandmother, I can see how your grand-daughter is going to treasure all the wonderful times she has had growing up with you!

Grandmother Mary said...

What a lovely tribute to ViMae and her emerging personality. Happiest of Birthdays to her! And good for you both for finding dancing and dragons!

Leah Rubin said...

Oh my goodness! You set the bar SO very high for all grandmas! All the wonderful things you two do together, and your time together is giving her such a strong foundation for her life! I am in awe of her imagination, and of your strength in developing this lovely and amazing little girl! My daughter and I took a tap-dance class together when she was 14 and I was 41. We still laugh when we think about how much fun that was. Cheers to you and to the little wondrous ViolaMae!

Ms Sparrow said...

How I envy the time you get to spend with ViMae! I get my three great-granddaughters only one week a year and then see them at family get-togethers. Happily, the three girls will be coming in six weeks. As they are a year older, we will be able to do more interesting things this time.

Jeanie said...

I just love your ViolaMae posts -- she's so darned adorable and I love the relationship you share! I spent a lot of time with my gran when I was young and to this day, I treasure every moment. I'm sure she will, too!

Sally Wessely said...

She has grown so fast! I love this sweet little personality that is developing. She is such a dear.

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