For a Seven Year Old?

Number One grand child turns seven next week and her party will be when I am at the Specialty in Richland. So yesterday we celebrated early. When asked what she wants there will be two answers "Littlest Pet Shop" and "Horses." She has a gazillion LPS things, and with Plum getting more and more mobile I just didn't want to be a part of the little pieces that went through the diaper, or the "Mom, she's bugging me!" club. So I put on my thinking hat. This is a very creative story telling kid. She is very crafty, but I am not. Not going to try to purchase anything of that variety as her Mom can take care of it. So,after an "aha" moment, I headed out in search of the perfect gift. At one time a person could purchase a little word processor. They are no longer available. There is no way I am springing for a computer that likely would crash...Did you know they still make, and sell, typewriters? Yep. I got the kid a typewriter. Crazy? Perhaps, but everyone I told has done the split second hesitation followed by "what a great idea."

This kid knows my style. I wrapped up a ream of paper and attached a card to it and gave that to her. She tried to be excited. She tried to be amused. She saw right through me. She hadn't a clue what a typewriter was when she did open the big box. However, when we plugged it in and inserted a sheet of paper she was gone. She spent hours typing. We had to literally turn the thing off to get her to go to bed. She was in the middle of a story about a dog, a cat, a bird, and something else walking along loving each other and their world. Each night she goes to bed with a "good dream start." That is just a little story that has an unstated happy ending. She gets to think about the happy ending as she falls to sleep. It is a great exercise in spontaneous story telling, but I must say I am a bit tired of princesses skipping through the woods on their way to Granny's house. Last night she went to bed without a story from me or her Mom. She had her own story brewing, fresh from the typewriter. By bedtime she knew where every letter on the keyboard was, so while she still pecked at the keys with one finger, she was pretty quick. It was fun to see her so enthralled. On the way home, however, I had that moment when I said to myself "what the heck was I thinking?"

I'll put pictures out in a bit. They are still on the camera.

Oh, and yes, of course, I did indeed buy the replacement insurance...

G2