Grandparents Week~Wednesday: Mid Week Ramblings–Being a Grandmother

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Think happy thoughts and you will fly.  Peter Pan was right. I currently have 16 happy thoughts that never fail to help me to fly over the doldrums the ho-hum, the not so fun part of growing up or in my case of growing older.   Grandchildren are my happy thoughts. They can lift me into whole new realms of discovery, enjoyment and sometimes just plain giggles.

I remember the indescribable joy of that first little grandchild being laid in my arms so new from Heaven with the sweet smell of angels.  The doors she opened into my new role of being a Grandma were not so scary after all.

I think of the sun warm on our backs and our feet numb from the chill of the water. My grandson and I don’t notice any of that as we squat in the shallows of a stream in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  We are busy examining the smooth pebbles on the floor of the riverbed.

My heart melts as a granddaughter with beautiful dark eyes peeking behind her Dora the Explorer bangs screams in excitement, “Grandma!” as I come up the walk.

I love the crayon drawings that come through the mail, the purple smile of a granddaughter immersing herself in her favorite blueberries, the three-year-old that teaches me how to “twirl” in my skirt so that it floats out into the air.  Her dress always floats in a perfect circle but I keep trying with her encouragement.

I’m taken back in time when I watch a grandson play basketball and see my son in the boy’s every move.  I love the wet kisses from the smiles gone sloppy.  I love the warm body on my lap, making up the story as she turns the pages.  I love the fairness of a little one that sees magic in the world.  I giggle as the fashion conscious one drags purses wherever she goes.  In her world anything with a handle becomes an accessory.

I am amazed at the energy and ‘bodies-gone-wild’ that accompanies some of the little boys in the family. I wish I could bottle it and sell that energy.   I would make a fortune.

I am in awe of the extra helping of love and joy that the newborn brings to the family and how patient he is with all the clumsy lovin’ he gets.

I have learned to applaud myself when I have made an accomplishment from a little granddaughter who claps joyfully when she learns to stand and then take her first steps.  It is awesome to answer the phone to “Hi Gamma, its me.” as if there is only one “me” in the whole wide world and it needs no explanation.

It is great to share my love of the written page with two granddaughters who also like to read and write.  We write stories in our ‘story notebook’ and send the notebook back and forth to each other.  What new worlds they lead me to.

I feel loved when a little hand finds its way into mine and fits so nicely. I look down at her face that is so sweet and so precious I just have to kiss those adorable cheeks.

I am humbled by a grandson who can speak so reverently of the things of the Spirit that I must stop and listen and learn.

Often the joke is on me.  Down at a creek behind their house the grandkids and I tromp through the bush.  I have an idea.  I will teach them how to skip stones across the water.  I’m not an expert but I have been known to skip a stone or two.  Well not this time.  Soon my grandkids are ducking so I decide it is time to stop the lesson.  When the airway is clear from flying objects a grandson picks up a stone, pulls his arm back and lets it fly, skipping not once but three times across the water.  The look on his face is precious as we ‘hi-five’ all around.

The world of a grandma is magical and special. Each wrinkle on a grandma’s cheeks represents a “Happy thought”. Why do some women have to be dragged, kicking and screaming into grandma hood?  We grandma’s that can fly need to share the secret joy of being a grandma. That way every little girl would grow up saying “I want to go up to be a grandma.”

This was written by my mother-in law Linda, who as you can tell is an amazing grandmother 🙂

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