Can I Go?

My daughter's children did not get outside to play as often as I felt they should,

If they were at my house I took them out to play. That was not often because I also worked. 

Their usual caretaker was their paternal grandfather. He loves them and took good care of them. He did not enjoy being outside.

Once they were spending the afternoon with me. They did not want to go out with me but finally we were in my back yard.  They were playing tentatively. They were getting some sun.

There was a healthy breeze that day. Sometimes the gusts were a bit stronger. 

I noticed that they both seemed a bit afraid. I asked what was wrong. They said they were afraid of being blown away,

Before I could ask who had told them such a ridiculous thing my phone rang. Because my back yard was fenced in I felt comfortable leaving them out while I ran in to answer it. So I did.

I answered the phone. As I did I turned around. There stood my grandchildren right behind me.

The sister of my daughter-in-law lived 3 houses down the street from me. Her daughter is the same age as my granddaughter. She called me 'Grandma-down-the-street'.

When they were a bit olde3r my grandchildren liked playing outside. I went out with them because we lived in the city. It is not always a safe place to be.

 All three children would have a good time. They had toys to play with. On hot days I would turn on the sprinkler so they could run through the water and stay cool.

One day my grandson came to me needing desperately to go to the bathroom. There was not time to gather all three of them and I could not leave the girls outside. So I told him to go in the bushes.

He looked at me like I had lost my mind. I told him to go stand between the house and the bush of his choice. Then he could do what he needed to do in privacy. 

When he was done he was so proud of himself. He bragged about it for the rest of the afternoon.

After thar day whenever he came to my house the first thing he asked to do is go to the bathroom in the bushes.