From Mother to Grandmother

NOTE: Here is our first guest blogger, MY MOM! This is fresh off the presses from my parents visit this past week-end. The minute Nana stepped off the plane and sat next to H. in the back seat, she and H. were new BFFs. All week-end it was Nana this Nana that, where's Papa and Mom who? Little know fact, my mom is a Reverend, and I'm a PK (Preacher's Kid). Suddenly you are thinking, this explains a lot.

I have never understood how grandparents could just up and leave their homes to move closer to their families. Until now.


My daughter, son-in-law, and first grand baby live 2,000 miles away from us. My son and daughter-in-law live 10,000 miles away. 2,000 or 10,000, it doesn’t make any difference. It is too far. Long ago and far away families all lived within a few miles of each other. Now, in the 21st century, that is no longer the case. Employment opportunities call us to different places now. We are a less localized society.


But then a grandchild comes along and it makes the distance even harder. We try to see H., our first grandbaby, every three months. So far we have been pretty successful at that, but it is still hard to be away from her for periods of time. She would forget us if it weren't for video Skype. Even with video, it is not the same as seeing her every day or every week. But we do the best we can and we love every minute of our time together.


The other expression I’ve never understood is this: “If I knew it was this much fun, I would have had grandchildren first.” I have actually seen this on t-shirts. It is a lot of fun to have grandchildren. But I had a lot of fun with our own children. They made me laugh every day (except for some of those teenage years). They are/were so full of life and joy it was contagious. Christy began talking very early and was a regular motor mouth throughout the day (and into the night in her sleep) and Michael began to walk when he was 6 months old which is why I didn’t gain weight for awhile. Of course we had the usual worries with one child who climbed over a gate as soon as it was assembled and proceeded to fall down the steps and another who had a couple of hospital trips for tonsils and adenoids – really minor things in comparison but nonetheless worrisome to ignorant parents such as us. Being a grandparent is a little easier. Poopy diaper? Must be someone else’s turn. Cranky baby? Hand off to Daddy.

Spending this last week with our grandbaby made me realize once again that millions of grandparents across the country are raising their grandchildren and they are exhausted, understandably so. We are blessed that our granddaughter has capable and loving parents and we get to hold, cuddle, read stories, play and then hand her back to Mom and Dad. I just want to do it more often than every couple of months.