This morning I woke up and the sun was about to shine , which is a good thing since Saturday was enough rain to last the week! Remnants of Hurricane Hanna left us appreciating the sunshine a bit more than usual.I am not smiling about the hurricane.
However, the reason I am smiling is because I am so well loved by my grandchildren and that is enough to counter any dreary Monday on the calendar! Yesterday was Grandparents Day and I had 8/10ths of my grandchildren celebrating me and gifting me with their love.
Margie called on Saturday night and asked me to come for lunch after church. I agreed since her lunches are always delicious and her kids are wonderful huggers! I take care of grandson Ethan on Sundays so he would be there too. To my happy surprise during the appetizer course between Eliot jumping from the tree, Simon looking for his daddy to play baseball and Jesse wondering if I brought his birthday gift or was this just Grammy stuff? I was given lovely cards, handmade and 'presented'. Presented is different than given because it entails an order of whose goes first, whose is accepted with more enthusiasm and whose is last place(always an indicator of BEST in the heart of the giver).
Then a surprise arrival-the Lacock family drove in, and down the hill came a baby girl carrying a card and a baby boy carrying a plant bigger than he was. What fun!!
Dinner was a tasty pasta dish with salad and white wine and bread, dessert a tasty cheesecake. But the food paled in comparison to the squeals and fights over who was sitting on my lap next or who had to have Grammy change them and nobody else.
In the afternoon hours, as the sun began setting , we were treated to a skateboard show, one of many to come I am sure. Amazing how such a small thing as watching a child and clapping at their performances can cause such joy and be reason for affirmation and feeling loved.
Well, it is now later in the day on Monday and the feeling of being loved by my sweet babies is still with me. There was chaos and frustration at work as usual, kids who were cute and dear, parents who said they appreciate me, friends who make the day sail by and people who I wish could be friends but never will be. But there is and never will be the feeling I had on just one single Sunday afternoon sitting in a grassy backyard filled with laughter and little bodies running around.
When things get really crazy, I bring to the front of my mind a little smiling face , a dirty mouth that puckers up when asked for a kiss, or tiny little arms that squeeze real tight. I think about the hugs I get , the smiles that sneak out underneath grumpy faces, the knowledge that pretty much above all else my dusty house is preferred over anybody else's for a visit.
What I don't understand and never will is why don't more people have more babies? I'm not talking about infertility problems, to those heartaches I lend my tears. I am talking about people who choose to have only one or two, who think having 2 cars that never break down is preferable to babies who keep you up all night, never leave home and cause you total and complete frustration as they age.
Do you think we Grandparents should speak more loudly about this gift? Should we ask our kids to PLEASE take back all of those trinkets and gift cards and knick- knacks and packages wrapped with such tender love and beauty?? Should we tell them we will cancel ALL gifts forever and ever in exchange for just ONE MORE GRANDCHILD??
I have 7 children. I have 4 more married into my family children. I have one who can't make up his mind. I have 10 grandchildren. And I do not have enough. I am thankful, I am happy , I am well loved by all, but I will be happier with more. I know that when these babies grow up, as they grow, I will never have enough of these lazy Sunday afternoons, sitting in the grass, watching everyone play and receiving just ONE more hand made card.
I am still smiling.
