Grammy Jammys

The only good thing about living a thousand miles from your mom is that fun things show up in the mail regularly. My mom’s a master crafter, and can bang out anything her heart desires in like a day, so it’s completely exciting to see what’s going to show up on our porch.

Once these covers for my Swiffer came. They blow away anything I’ve ever bought at the store to clean my floors, and I love them. That grayish one under the red used to be a pretty lavender color but hey, it’s cleaned many miles of floor in its life.

Shopping cart covers, bibs, hats, shirts, pants, sweaters, pillows, doll clothes, cloth diapers, hair bows…

and

the World’s Most Awesome Pajamas.

It all started when my mom sent Wilson some Spider-Man Jammies. They weren’t intended to be the star of the box, they were just tucked in the corner like “hey, here’s some pajamas I threw together last night while I was waiting for the water to boil for dinner”.

Well the kid just loved them:

After a few weeks with the Spidey jammies, we were on the phone or webcam or something with my mom and Wilson comes out with “Grammy, next I want you to make me some jammies with sunglasses on them”. Background: There’s hardly anything that excites my mom quite like a craft challenge. Tell her you would like a trash can coozy that lights up and plays the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and she’ll find it or make it. It might take a week or two, but it’ll show up.

So naturally, the next week:

I wish I had gotten a picture of the boy’s face when he first saw and held these pajamas. It’s like he couldn’t believe he had thought up something in his head and then here it was, real in his hands!

Also, now it’s a game. Good luck Ma, you’re gonna wish you never started this.

Very shortly after we received the sunglasses jammies (it may have even been the same day), they are on the phone:

Grammy: “Do you like your sunglasses jammies, Wilson?”

Wilson: “Yes!”

Grammy: “Are you thinking about what you want next?”

He  looks around the room (we are in the kitchen) and lingers a little bit too long on the microwave. Oh please don’t say microwaves, I think. Or do, I kind of want to see if she can do it.

Wilson: “I want jammies with broccolis on them”

Grammy: without missing a beat “Ok! Coming right up!”

Completely random. Not much better than microwaves. But if you’ve read this far, you shouldn’t be surprised that a few days later…

Side note: A hilarious bit we like to do whenever Wilson’s wearing his broccoli jammies is “Hey Wilson, ya got a little bit of broccoli there…” or “Wilson! How are you covered in broccoli?! We didn’t even have broccoli for dinner! It’s all over your shirt and shorts! What in the world?!” Did I mention it’s hilarious?

This brings us to our most recent pair of Grammy Jammys.  It was shortly after we took Wilson to see the movie Brave. His Papa Farmer had bought him a bow & arrow set, so I just knew what would be next. Sure enough he put the order in.

“Bows and Arrows, Grammy.”

I was relieved for my poor Ma. Finally a fabric that should be available at any JoAnn’s. Oddly I believe these jammies gave her the most trouble. Because as any observer of Murphy’s Law can attest, you will see an item in a store a thousand times without needing it, but the moment you go back to buy it, it’s nowhere to be found.

What does my mother do if JoAnn’s doesn’t have what she needs? She goes underground. She calls a little old fairy woman who lives in a hollowed out tree in an enchanted forest. She gets it.

What’s next? I think the Grammy Jammys are retired for the year since the weather is starting to get cooler. Plus Wil seems to be satisfied with his collection of jammies with random objects on them. I think it’s been fun for both of them to share this project together. He dreamt it up, his Grammy turned it into a reality. One day he’ll get too big to wear them, and he will tuck them away someplace special to keep as a reminder of his amazing Grammy, and what they made together.