A Funeral and A Toddler

Sadly, my grandmother passed away earlier this year. And while this has nothing to do with my theme of baby at work, our babe comes everywhere with us, and so it was an odd and new adventure for all of us. And for some reason, you never seem to think that occasions like this may present themselves, but they do. So we figured out a few things that made the event and surrounding time more bearable.

• Of course, we're surrounded by family-wonderful in all ways. Not only are we with loved ones, but extra sets of hands!
• We kept thinking, Grandma would have loved to have seen all the kids and babies at her funeral! She wouldn't have minded them crawling everywhere, in face, let them dance and stomp their feet!
• It's a looongg day, so we made every effort to plan naps and meals accordingly & strongly encouraged sleeping in the car between stops (funeral home, then grave site, then reception of course, then open house).
• Bring toys, keys, wallets, any and all distractions possible. I didn't plan adequately for this and had every receipt in my wallet scattered on the pews.
• Funeral homes are not necessarily baby-friendly/ prepare for no change tables, private rooms, etc.

Our Miss Scarlett enjoyed the service by vying for attention over the officiant, dancing and bopping her head to the gospel music her grandpa and uncle played, and playing peek-a-boo with her great-aunts sitting behind us. Who knew?

I found I was pre-occupied during the service with keeping Scarlett happy, but hope that we were able to celebrate Grandma's life in a way she would have appreciated-bringing another great-grand into this world, enjoying the music, bringing smiles to the faces around us and generally making the best of the situation. I think that was an appropriate way to deal with the day. And of course, I did take time for myself at a later time to reflect on my grandma's life and passing, without the babe wiggling in my lap! And what an amazing life-she had the life of a "settler" in Northern Alberta, raised kids and helped with grandkids, looked after her community of neighbors and friends, farmed, gardened, cooked, let us grandgirls drive when we were way underage (oops) and always made me feel like there was an adventure everyday or just ahead. So we shared one last adventure with my Grandma and the newest addition to the extended family.