I was called Grandma today

We were at Seaport Village, (Johanna, Lizzie and me) and shopping in a soap shop. Lizzie had already had a long, though good, day and was ready to shop in the Safari shop – for her afternoon reward. But first we were browsing in the shops Johanna and I wanted to go into, (because you know as soon as you get that present a certain someone will be ready to leave!) and at the moment it was a soap shop. Consequently, Lizzie was bored, and playing with the bath toys, perhaps a bit too roughly. And consequently, Johanna was snapping at her just a little to get her to behave. I don’t remember what I said, or exactly what the shopkeeper said – but I do remember that she prefixed her statement with “Grandma, …..” and she was clearly talking to me!!

I do believe this was the first time anyone ever called me Grandma, and as much as I would love to be a grandma one day, this was not the right day to hear it! Me? Be my sister’s mother? Sure I could be Lizzie’s Grandma, I’m old enough for that, but Johanna’s mother? Humph.

It helped that the woman in the shop was old enough to be a grandma herself, so it wasn’t some young kid’s assessment of old age – or does that make it worse, not better? And she knew Jo was from out of town, and I was local, so the chances were high we were family. And I look older, am older! She made a quick judgment, correctly, that Johanna was Lizzie’s mom. Where she messed up was in my relationship to that pair. And I had a hat on, she couldn’t see me well – that makes a difference, right? Did the wheelchair make a difference too?

Johanna and I have been laughing about this all evening. I didn’t realize she heard the woman’s comment till we got home later, when she called me “Grandma” with a smirk. I was kind of hoping she hadn’t heard the comment! Eh, I’ll get her back one day.

We took the amphibious SEAL tour from Seaport Village. I had no idea it was wheelchair accessible till the Expo, where I saw an ad for it in the Access San Diego magazine. I suppose it makes sense though, the ADA would require it I guess. It was a decent ride – half an hour to drive to and from Seaport Village and the boat dock past the airport, and an hour on the water. The blue whale that has visited our bay for 2 days didn’t show though. Oh well. We saw sea lions and got a good sense of how much military land there is around the bay. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. So, I would recommend it. If you have a wheelchair though, call the day before to set it up, to be sure one of the accessible vehicles is there at the time you want to ride.