Prepping for Benjamin

3/30/2015

This afternoon, Benjamin is coming for an overnight stay. As those of you who have grandchildren know, certain things must be in place before the visit.  

Benjamin wants what he calls "Money Drink" which is liquid yogurt and the container just happens to have monkeys on the label.  Then there's chocolate milk, brown sugar Pop-Tarts and perhaps popcorn for movie watching.  I have a number of children's DVD's that Benjamin and I have watched a zillion times, and today will be no different.  He'll poke around in the box and probably come up with one of the Shrek movies.  At least he's grown up enough to no longer want to watch Elmo!

The last time Benjamin slept over, I convinced him that because he was a big boy now, he needed to sleep in the spare room.  There was a bit of resistance until I provided him with a small Santa that has a light bulb inside.  Oh and let's not forget all of the stuffed animals he has acquired over the years.

In our den is a small chest that is filled with odds and ends of toys as well as track to a Hot Wheels raceway toy that his father played with when he was a child - it's really old.  You can still buy this raceway toy on Ebay but be prepared to pay a lot of money for it.

When Benjamin was a toddler, I bought him a huge set of foam blocks of differing sizes.  The blocks sit in an equally huge plastic bin and Benjamin generally tries to build the tallest tower before it collapses.  If you have grandchildren, I highly recommend these blocks because even if a tower happens to hit the furniture or a dog - nobody gets hurt.  This is a plus.

Of course once the raceway is set up, then out comes the plastic storage container for all the match box cars.  Because what good is a raceway, if there are no cars to run down the ramps.

And last but not least, my box of books for bedtime reading that Benjamin and I negotiate over how many books constitutes enough books before it's lights out.

So my house is all ready.  All I need now is Benjamin!

P