Sam Bakes

About a week ago I was busily mixing up a double batch of gingersnaps when the back door opened and in pops our grandson, Sam. He’s a nine-year-old walking bundle of energy most of which is channeled into the many sports he loves to play. His dad was there beside him and suggested Sam get his chef’s apron and give Grandma a hand. And he did even though cookie baking doesn't exactly qualify as a sport. I scooped the cookie dough from the bowl and Sam rolled them in sugar. He plopped them onto the cookie sheet and into the oven they went. In between batches we played UNO. Yes, he beat me, and with relish but I didn’t go down easily! No sir. It’s all in the cards, after all.

A few unexpected hours with Sam, or any of our other grandchildren, is always a joy. It’s also what great  memories are made of – especially on my end. It makes me realize how fast time goes and how far Sam has come from the following incident. I wrote this just before he went to kindergarten and a slightly longer version was published in The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter last year.

Sam is a quick study with a great attention span, and he also has the ability to retain all the details of his favorite subjects. When he loved trains, he knew about coal tenders, the difference between diesel and steam engines, and the names and functions of all his plastic train cars. Next came pirates, then airplanes and most recently, dinosaurs. With these pre-historic beasts he knew about books, movies and computer games with dinosaur themes. This included the names, weight, whether they were herbivores or carnivores, and in what time periods, Jurassic, Triassic or Cretaceous, they had each lived. Smart kid.

One day on our way to the library, I was lamenting that he would soon be in kindergarten and how much I would miss him. But I also told him he’d be learning more things than he could ever imagine.

“Oh, Sam,” I said, “you’re going to learn so much in kindergarten. Why, you’ll know more than Grandma ever knew, from day one!”

There was a thoughtful pause from the back seat of the car, and then he responded, “Grandma, I think it will be day ten. You’re pretty smart.” 

I’ve begged each of the grand kids to stop growing, but alas, they have not listened to me. I guess I’ll just have to hope they pop in when they can and offer to help me bake. I'll have chocolate covered beaters, warm cookies, cold milk and an open heart all ready for them whenever they do.