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| Melinda and The Man from Skype |
My husband is a great entertainer of little people. A Pied
Piper. When it comes to our Finnish grandchildren, though, most of our
encounters happen on Skype. He’s an expert at Pattycake, This Little Piggie and
Peek-a-Boo when we Skype.
Darling Granddaughter #2 is 2 ½ and until last month
she had only met her American grandfather once, when she was just over a year
old.
Last month we visited them in Polokka Finland. When Grandpa
came into the living room, Darling Granddaughter #2 looked up at him with shock
and awe. “Could it be . . . . ?” she must have been thinking.
He sat on the rug
beside her, took his foot in her hand and began “This Little Piggy . ..” Her
smile lit up the room and she giggled for five minutes. “It’s the funny guy
from Skype! He’s real! And he’s here!” flashed over her face as she connected
the image from Skype with her grandfather.
Priceless. That moment was worth the whole trip, travel
hassles and all.
The remainder of our visit was filled with This Little
Piggy, Pattycake, and Peek-a-Boo. She just couldn’t get enough, and Grandpa was
her preferred provider.
Darling Granddaughter #2 is a special child. She is a
surviving twin of a premature birth (23 weeks 5 days gestation) and weighed in
at 20 ounces at birth. She is a miracle. She faces many physical challenges, so
every bit of progress she makes is miraculous in our eyes.
As if her life isn’t challenging enough, she also hears
Finnish and English every day, one language from each parent. When she forms
those first words we're all anxiously waiting to hear, they’ll probably be in Finnish, her mother’s tongue, and her
second language will be English, her father’s native language. In the meantime,
therapists are encouraging sign language. Evidently American and Finnish sign
language are quite similar, which will be a great mediator.
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| Little Brother and the Man From Skype |
Little Brother was also an active observer and participant.
At ten months, he’s happy, social, charming, and attentive. What a joy it was
to be with him.
What my husband doesn’t know is that often when we Skype, he
has an audience of Finns who are standing beyond video camera range. They find
him highly amusing. So do I. One of the Finnish relatives has proposed a study
on family relationships maintained with Skype as a project for her master’s
degree. In other words, we’re going to be part of an educational study.
Never underestimate the power of “This Little Piggy.”
But I've never understood why the third little piggy had roast beef.
