Being A "Real Granny/Bubby/Savta"

My tendency is to be too strict and health conscious.  I raised my kids without rewarding, bribing etc. with cakes, cookies, candies and chocolate.  OK that's besides using some treats to bribe my oldest through the last stage of toilet training.  (I'll blog that story if you ask nicely.)

My married daughter, the mother of my grandchildren, always tells me that I should be giving them all sorts of goodies, like a real savta, and not be "me." 

It's not that easy.  I wasn't raised with that sort of grandmother or aunts or anyone.  My kids had their saba and savta, my husband's parents, who loved giving them things that davka they knew and stressed I didn't approve of.

This past Saturday night after Shabbat, when the kids were still here, I was informed that the now six year old expected a "birthday party."  I had given her gifts weeks ago, and they and two of my other kids had been over for Purim.  I wasn't prepared for a party, but I had an idea.

Friday afternoon some local kids delivered two rather flat, pathetic looking, but chocolate, cupcakes in honor of "Youth Shabbat."  Nobody had touched them on Shabbat. I set them on a plate, cut them each in half for the three kids, put out napkins and brought the colored sprinkles out of the pantry.  The party activity was to "decorate" the little minicakes, which the kids did very enthusiastically.  As expected, they ate more sprinkles than cake and were still hungry.  So I took out their favorite flavored yogurts and told them to sprinkle them, too.  That was a big success!  They requested seconds and seconds they got.

My daughter was proud of me.  I actually gave the kids junk food.