Traces of polish remind her of granddaughter

By DIANA DOLECKI
Special to The Commercial Review
Granddaughter Emma thinks I look like a television star. It sounds flattering until you hear the rest of the story.
We were in her living room. She was playing with my hair and noticed that I had bangs. Then she said I looked just like Dora. That’s right. Dora the Explorer. Can you see the resemblance between me and a cartoon character?  We both have bangs but as far as I can tell, the resemblance ends there. It sounds much better when I say it my way.
It could be worse. She could think I looked like Spongebob Squarepants’ friend, Squidward.
On the last day we spent together she got out the nail polish. First she painted a volcano with red hot lava on her fingernails. This was accomplished with glittery blue polish on the base of her nails and red polish on the tips.
The volcano effect was soon deemed to be too much trouble and she painted some of her nails blue and some red. I offered to let her paint my toenails. She stuck with her idea of painting some red and some blue sparkly. The brush with the red slipped and it looked like I had suffered a major injury on one foot.
My daughter thought I had lost my mind when I let her finish the beauty treatment by doing my fingernails.
Later on we packed everybody up and went to a relative’s for a birthday party for grandson Jacob, almost-granddaughter Paige, and my husband. A couple neighbors invited themselves over and joined in on the conversation.
The kids put on one of their famous plays that made no sense to the audience and everyone had a wonderful time. The kids fell asleep on the way home but revived once we got there. After homework for the older ones and baths for the messy ones everybody headed for bed.
It was then that I was reminded of my earlier pedicure. When I tried to remove my socks it seems that the polish wasn’t as dry as I had thought it had been when I put them on. I almost removed my toenails with my socks. The socks had stuck to the polish. After stifling a yelp, I carefully peeled the material away. Next time I’ll make sure that my miniature manicurist applies thinner coats of polish that will dry more quickly.
I confess, I still have traces of polish on my nails. Even though we have been home for more than a week, I can’t bring myself to erase her handiwork.
I talked to her on the phone today and she told me to tell her mommy to let her have some Cheetos. I was to tell her not to say no. Mommy was laughing in the background. Her mommy told her I said not to give her any Cheetos. I said no such thing. A grandmother’s job is to spoil children as often as possible. Emma eventually got her Cheetos - and a command to eat them outside.
It is so amazing watching this little girl develop her own personality. She likes painting of any kind and so far is in her abstract phase (most things she paints, such as volcanos with red hot lava, need explanations). She counts in both English and Spanish. She spoils her baby brother. She is as bossy as every other five-year-old kid.
She’s smart, caring and a joy to be around. So if I have dabs of red and sparkly blue polish on my nails, it is because I like being reminded of her even if she does think I look like Dora the Explorer.[[In-content Ad]]