Yes, it is often organized chaos and almost always noisy but it is also fills your heart with love and awe and wonder. Grandchildren are truly a gift from God - they keep us "younger," they make us laugh and they let us rediscover what it's like to be child-like (not childish) again.
Although they live across the country, we are fortunate to be able to visit our grandchildren and their parents several times a year staying a week or so each time. What I loved about being there a whole month this time was really spending some time with them, one-on-one and as a group. They are a pretty interesting group of kids!
I learned about Rainbow Looms (the hottest Christmas toy of the year!) and the "new" way to do long division (must say I am not a fan of Common Core - but I'll write about that another day!). I memorized two Bible verses as I helped them with their Awana lessons. Being up on what's "in" and learning new things keeps our minds young.
Art Linkletter used to say that kids say the darnedest things. I found that to be true when our children were young and am constantly reminded of it with our grandkids. Dinner-table and car conversations are my favorites. Sometimes I laugh until I cry. With three boys you can imagine how much "potty humor" there is. When our kids were young I could keep a straight face and firmly tell them how inappropriate their comments were but for some reason, I just can't anymore. Maybe I realize more now the value of laughter … or maybe it's funnier when it's someone else's kids … or maybe I've learned that children don't have to be perfectly behaved ALL the time. Of course, there are also conversations about what it was like "a long time ago" when I was a child. "Did you have TV when you were little?" "Yes, but it was in black & white." "You mean ALL THE TIME? (with a look of complete disbelief)" But perhaps my favorite conversations are the random ones - "I licked all the m&m's right there on the counter so no one would eat them while I went to the bathroom."
As a parent, I tried to play and have fun with our kids as much as possible but other responsibilities (like making dinner or parent/teacher communication or laundry or …) seemed to get in the way more often than I would have liked. But being a grandparent is different. There is more time to play and have fun and to rediscover what it's like to be a child. We played games ALL afternoon instead of making dinner, read stories instead of doing dinner dishes, chalked on the driveway instead of doing laundry, "grew" edible monsters (made of candy eyeballs and other gooey treats) in "petri dishes filled with moldy agar" (lime Jell-o in shallow dishes) and had lots of slumber parties. It's fun being child-like!
I may not have helped much with making meals or cleaning up but I played hard and had fun with the grandkids. I think my "sweethearts" make my life pretty grand!
Children's children are a crown to the aged.
Proverbs 17:6
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