Time was spent choosing the right gifts

Nine short years ago I became a grandmother. It seems like yesterday that I held a tiny bundle in my arms and read her the first story she ever heard while her mother listened and her Aunt Chrisie took pictures.
Emma is now a lithe, freckled, curly haired child who will soon be taller than me. She is the most girlish tomboy I have ever known. I was torn as to what to send her for her birthday. Should it be something that appeals to her feminine side or something more suited for adventure? She already has her own Spiderman costume to match those of both of her little brothers, so that eliminated that choice.
After wandering several stores and picking up and putting back various items I settled on two things. I got her a crystal growing kit to appeal to the latent scientist in her. I put back the geode kit because I remembered when she was attempting to crack rocks at her dad’s house and ended up shattering the sliding glass doors instead.
I also bought her a dragon. Her brother, Jacob, had asked for and received a dragon of his own last year. Emma was very upset that we hadn’t gotten a dragon for her birthday. I reminded her that we had let her pick out her own present and what she chose wasn’t a dragon. She was not mollified. So now she will have her own dragon to play with.
This is the first year in a long time that we haven’t seen her at some time over the holidays. My husband’s replacement knees still need time to heal before we attempt another trip of that length.
I miss having her curl up in my lap and say, “I like it when you’re here.” I miss her crawling into bed with us at night. I miss watching her fearlessly ride a horse that outweighs her by hundreds and hundreds of pounds. I miss watching her play with her brothers, Jacob and Nicholas. I even miss helping with her homework, but only a little.
Living so far away, it makes it all the more special when we do get to visit. Phone calls and letters just aren’t the same. We have yet to discover Skype as that requires one to sit still and neither she nor her brothers have mastered that art yet.
Sometimes I wish we lived within walking distance of the grandkids. Then we could see them any time we wanted to. We could take them shopping and thereby have a clearer idea of what presents they would like for their birthdays. Then again, having them so close would make our time together less precious, less special. There are no easy answers.
Emma is no longer a baby and hasn’t been for quite awhile. She has a mind of her own and knows what she does and doesn’t want. She is a perfect big sister and a perfect granddaughter. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for her.
I hope she likes the presents I chose for her. But in case she doesn’t, I bought some yarn to make her the new blanket as she has requested one “with fewer holes” than the one I made for her when she was a baby.
While I work on the blanket, I will think of her with every stitch I take. But first I have to find the directions. The last time I tried to crochet I ended up making a giant amoeba and ripping it all out and starting over. Emma deserves a blanket that actually looks like a blanket instead of an amoeba.
These past nine years have gone so quickly. Before we know it she will be out of school and on her own. But for now, I have a present to mail and a blanket to crochet.