I was promoted to “Grandma” status on February 20th, 2011. My youngest grandbaby will be born in February 2024. So, if you do the math, that is a thirteen year spread between my oldest and youngest grand child, with five littles in between. Since August, I’ve had the privilege of babysitting my year old granddaughter a couple days a week. She was not a fan of going to daycare when my daughter, Carmen returned to work after her maternity leave was done, so family stepped in to help with childcare. Between both sets of grandparents and aunts and uncles we’ve got it covered. This week, my oldest grandbabies are staying with us while their mom and dad are at a Biblical Counselling course in California. Having two preteens in the house means I help with homeschooling, and we are driving them to piano lessons etc., and I am constantly figuring out what to feed two ravenous kids with decidedly different taste buds.

As much as I LOVE babysitting my grands, I am totally exhausted at the end of the day! There is good reason why we become parents at a young age. My body just doesn’t have the stamina it once had in my twenties and thirties.

Let’s face it, my husband and I have become pretty set in our ways over the years. Empty nesting does that. Our daily schedules don’t change very much. I putter around the house tidying places that don’t need tidying. We don’t create a lot of dust just the two of us, and we have a place for everything and everything is in its place. We enjoy our fairly boring lifestyle. It’s peaceful.

This morning there were wet towels on the floor, unmade beds, underwear in the entranceway (no one knows how it got there 🤪🤣). There are homework books strewn on counters, under their beds, and all over the kitchen table. There are crumbs everywhere, and hand and nose prints on all the mirrors that the one year old leaves behind after every visit.

Did I mention my dishwasher died last week?

I know it’s a luxury, but I’ve become accustomed to the convenience of a dishwasher, and washing dishes by hand is wearing thin on me, especially now when there’s double the amount of dishes being used each meal. (Yes, the older grands help with dishwashing, but grandma prefers her method to their less than fussy technique.)

I go from singing nursery rhymes to my little one year old, to watching “Stranger Things” with my oldest.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

There are studies that say having grandparents close to their grandchildren, interacting with them, and loving on them, is not only good for the kids, but also for the grandparents. I am blessed with having all my grandbabies live less than ten minutes away. My own grandparents lived in Denmark, and I saw them two or three times in my lifetime! I do not take for granted that my grandbabies live close and I see them often.

I read this quote the other day: “A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty.” How very true! All six, soon to be seven, grandbabies are my joy and delight. I thank God and pray for each of them and their parents every day. They are all “fearfully and wonderfully made” according to God’s design and He has a special purpose for each of them. My prime responsibility as their grandma is to ensure they know that!

“When’s lunch, Grandma? I’m almost done my school stuff. I’m hungry!”

I guess I’m done blogging for today.

Now if I could just figure out what to feed them for lunch!