WEDNESDAY WISDOM: THERE'S SOMETHING MAGICAL ABOUT GRANDCHILDREN

THERE'S SOMETHING MAGICAL ABOUT GRANDCHILDREN

“Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing old.” -Mary H. Waldrip  

 

I’ve enjoyed an abundance of grandparenting blessings lately.

Our granddaughter Sophie called while we were dealing with Covid to check on us and to wish us a prompt recovery.  She’s out on her own now, quite grownup, so this was self-initiated, not something her mother prompted her to do.  She simply wanted to express her love and concern for us.  It was a treat to hear from her and learn about her current and future plans.  Her brothers Henry and Eli are likewise thoughtful about our needs and concerns.

Our grandson Walker came to visit us a week ago Sunday.  He’s completing an intensive program for learning Italian in preparation for going to Rome as a missionary for our church.  He spoke in church recently and displayed a very mature understanding of the purpose of life and an appreciation for this grand opportunity he has to make a difference in the world.  It is so marvelous when grandchildren grow up and we see they have their heads on straight, given all the craziness in the world today.

 

This past weekend I visited my four grandchildren who live in Logan, Utah, primarily to attend Matthew’s baptism.  Afterwards, he stood and expressed in his own words his sweet feelings in taking this important step in his life.  I also was able to spend delightful time with his three sisters, Daisy, Penny, and Ella.  It was wonderful to see that all four are growing up to be helpful, caring human beings and beautiful people, both inside and out.

At the moment, no one knows where our grandchildren's individual journeys may take them.  I think their parents are doing a great job helping them use their agency wisely, but the jury is still out.  Even if some make choices that make us scratch our heads, we nevertheless love them and rejoice in our relationships with each one.  They are ours and we're happy that they will be in our lives forever.

As any grandparent knows, the best part of our role is that you can enjoy the fun and happiness of a close relationship with little accountability for how they’re behaving.  With our children, we had to be constantly vigilant to make sure we were bringing them up right.  Not so with the next generation — no micromanagement duties there.  We can actually be pals with them. We can play with them and spoil them. “Being grandparents sufficiently removes us from the responsibilities so that we can be friends.” Allan Frome

Someone famously quipped that if they knew how great it was to have grandchildren compared to the labor of raising children, they would have had grandchildren first.  I suspect, however, that it is not the ORDER in which they come, but OUR AGE when they arrive in our lives.  By the time we reach grandparent age, we’ve mellowed and we’ve learned what really matters in life.  We’ve learned to stop sweating the small stuff.  Youngsters are not fundamentally different whether they’re our children or our grandchildren; WE are different.

Yes, there’s something magical about the time we spend with grandchildren.  And there’s also something magical about recognizing who we’ve become by the time we become grandparents. Being with grandchildren allows us to discover how much WE’VE grown since we raised their parents. When we see ourselves reflected in our grandchildren’s eyes, we like who we’ve become.