Thursday, February 24, 2011

Grandma Love

Grandma Love
When a baby is born
a grandma is, too,
with more love in her heart
than she ever knew.

The average person becomes a grandparent at age 50.   And aren't we different people at age 50 than we were in our twenties or thirties?  We have had our good times and our bad times.  We have worked, raised our own children, volunteered, sat on committees at church, in the community and within our schools.  We have traveled, even if only to see relatives. Hopefully we have sat on a sun-lit beach and felt the hot sun shine on our face, and then watched the sun set over the water.  We've probably gone fishing, ridden in a convertable car, skipped rocks on a pond and had a hotdog at a baseball game.  We've done the things we should have done and some things we should not have done.  But we have lived and learned and loved and laughed and cried. 


When we were in our twenty and thirties, we planned our lives so carefully for the next five years, the next ten years and then the next twenty years and then, we even mapped out what we would do in retirement.  I like planning and keeping things on track, but for many of us, life didn't turn out just like we had planned, hoped for or ever envisioned.  And that's actually OK with me!  Life has been more of an adventure than I could have ever planned, imagined in my wildest dreams or scheduled on my own. 

And now I'm 50 and a Grandma - Nana, actually.  I battled over names for being a grandparent.  I didn't want to be a grandma - like my own grandma.  She seemed old and died before I was ten years old.  We only got to see her afew times a year.  When grandma and grandpa came, we were so excited for days ahead of time from when they were going to arrive.  We danced on the street curb for days watching for the next car in hopes it would be them; we were pretty certain they would show up early, because they were so excited to see us, too!  Our visits were nice, we always loved them.  We all sat in the living room and talked, and giggled and performed our own little shows - all six little girls and Mom and Dad.  And then we had meals and fought over who got to sit next to Grandma or Grandpa.  A line of little girls in pajamas marched in at bedtime for goodnight kisses for both Grandma and Grandpa.  That was a happy memory. 

And now I'm 50 and a Nana.  It seems different than it did when I was growing up.  I don't feel old and I want to be more involved with my grandchildren.  I love to walk hand in hand with our grandson of 18 months up the sidewalk by the house, to get a squirmy little boy to sit quietly in my lap to read a book, or to pick up a sleeping baby from his car seat and carry him to his crib to continue the nap. That's grandma love to me! 

 And for my 6 month old grandson who isn't in the same city and I can't pick him up whenever I want to just for  the smell and feel of a young baby, I try other little things to try to stay involved.  I pick up little things for him at the store and build a stash until I get a package out, I bought the kids a webcam and try to see and talk to him once a week (he finds it very interesting that the computer screen is talking directly to him!), and those times I can, I get out there to hold and feed and change him and try to be part of his growing up.  That's grandma love to me!

A few favorite things for my grandbabies, I bought at Grand Expression.  The products are unique and fun.  They are easy to shop, easy to ship and the prices are really great.  Here's afew of my favorites:



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