Girl Next Door

Things were a little rocky for a while after our return from India. After being doted on 24/7 by my aunt/uncle/grandparents, it was suddenly just Lolo, Papa and me. Also, we had shifted houses, which meant Lolo and Papa were quite busy and preoccupied, and I did NOT take kindly to it. I panicked every time Lolo left my side and cried a lot. The house was in a constant state of disarray with cardboard boxes strewn everywhere. Lolo and Papa bickered a lot. Things were ugly. It was around this time that we made our acquaintance with Oma. Oma means Grandma in German and that’s what we all call her. She has short white hair, wrinkly skin and sparkly eyes. She lives by herself in the house across the street and is a sprightly thing, always hopping on her cycle and jetting off. When she first lay eyes on me, it was love at first sight (for her). I just regarded her sceptically, and didn’t return her kind smile. Ouch! But boy, was she persistent! Every time we walked by her house, she would come rushing out to coo at me. Then there were the gifts. So many of them! Tiny colourful wooden train sets, picture books, a wooden duck that I could pull along on a string and my personal favourite, a rocking sheep. Seeing her on an almost regular basis, I slowly warmed up to her. One day, she invited us in, and I discovered that her TV console was actually a treasure trove of toys! Once, she offered to babysit me for a while, and Lolo tentatively relented, not knowing how I’d react. Lolo needn’t have worried, because we had a blast. Since then, the babysitting sessions have become more and more frequent and everyone’s happy. My first order of business when I get there is to stick my hands into the cookie jar on the coffee table. We then sit on the floor and play with whatever I can drag out from the TV console. When the weather is nice outside, she takes me to the Spielplatz and laughs in glee when I play on the slide and swings. If it’s raining, we stay indoors and busy ourselves with watercolor. She also feeds me lots of yummy stuff that she seems to have stocked up on, specifically for me. Her house has three floors, and it’s a lot of fun climbing up all those stairs. Adding a lift would be a lovely thing, if you ask me. She stops by for tea at our place quite frequently too. In the summer, we all go out together for ice cream, or coffee and cake. We recently celebrated her 83rd birthday. Lolo and Papa asked my opinion on which plant to gift her and I pointed my finger at one. We paid for that one and at home, Lolo wrapped a nice bow around it. In the evening, we stopped by at Oma’s place and I proudly pointed at the plant and Papa made sure to mention that I had picked it out for her. She seemed very pleased with it and I got a big hug and kiss. The next day, we all went out for pizza and blew up huge 8 and 3 foil balloons. I played with them during lunch but gave them back to Oma when we were leaving (Papa asked me to). Lolo had taken a picture of Oma with the balloons, and she printed them out to give her and Oma loved it so much, she had it framed, and now it sits right next to my framed photo on her mantelpiece (yes, I’m on her mantelpiece as well, along with her other real great grandkids). I wouldn’t have thought this when I first met her, but she has finally managed to win me over.