Some years ago we lived
in a multi-family home with our daughter, her husband and their three children.
We had this living arrangement for about 10 years. One of the grandkids could
easily work their circuitous way to our side of the house without going outside.
Our grandkids would frequently
want to visit our “side” of the house. They would first work their way through
their garage, then the shared laundry room, into our garage to the door into
our apartment. The living arrangement was perfect, with separate living
arrangements and complete privacy.
Some evenings, there
would be a knock on the door (they were not allowed to walk in without
knocking) and one of the kids would say, “Grammy, do you have any Scotch tape?”
“Sure, in the drawer
next to the kitchen sink. Do you want something to eat?”
“Poppy, do you have a
cover for the report? By the way, could you read it and make it better?”
“The covers are in the
middle drawer of the desk. What’s your report about?”
The ongoing joke was
our grandkids think we were a well-stocked CVS drugstore! And we could meet all
of their needs. I then realized I stumbled onto a great idea. Have a lot of
reasons to have your family (grandkids) and even friend knocking on your door
looking for something. It’s cheaper than the real CVS, and it forces them to
spend some time with you.
Here are some
suggestions to stock your shelves like a CVS store.
1.
Stock frozen
pizza, ready to heat up and serve at a moment’s notice.
2.
Learn to
hem trousers, fix faulty seams and remove stains.
3.
Buy a
stapler and have a supply of staples.
4.
Have an array
of paper clips, book covers, tape, glue, craft paints, glue gun.
5.
Have a
supply of Tums for upset stomachs.
6.
Have some
reading material to pass onto them.
7.
Learn how
to search the Internet to help with homework.
8.
Always have
something sweet to serve.
9.
Have a top
of the line computer they cannot resist using.
The list is not exhaustive.
But hopefully you get my point. Be creative and select items that fit your circumstances.
Remember the most
important shelf item is you. Encourage their visits, their sharing, and try to
determine their needs beyond the obvious paper clip.
Robert Parlante
October 2016
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