THE GRANDPARENT TOOL

We've all heard the sayings-- "If I had known how much fun grandchildren were; I would have had them FIRST!" -- "Grandchildren are the rewards for surviving your own children" -- etc.  It's true, grandchildren are one of the greatest joys in life.  Is the joy doubled because we are older and have matured in our own parenting skills? I know I definitely have learned how to pick my battles. Plus, it's nice to realize that we aren't totally responsible for their well being.

Compared to a lot of our contemporaries, we are fairly new to the grandparenting game.  Even though we were married in our teens, we didn't have kids until our thirties -- that put us behind schedule!  We should be having great-grandkids at this point, but we are so thankful for the two grandchildren we have.  Really, the joy they bring is incomparable.

When the grandkids were little they were so adorable, we just wanted to eat them up!  Sure they had their moments, but we had THE ULTIMATE GRANDPARENT TOOL  -- the ability to hand them back to their parents.  You know how that goes:  "Does anyone smell something?-- daughter, I think you better check for poopy pants!!  I'll hold them when they smell sweet again."  A super special time -- preschoolers are so curious learning new things every single day! 

And then it hits -- They go to school!  Parents and grandparents aren't their only guiding light anymore.  There are all kinds of influences out there.  
They develop attitudes!!

They become borderline obnoxious!

You always love them to death, but you don't always like them. But once again, the ultimate grandparent tool is a life saver.  Miss Attitude will never forget the day that Grammy had had enough, packed her up, and took her home to Mom several hours earlier than planned.  No one was happy (especially Mom as she had other plans for her quiet time!). After that the attitude problem ceased (at my house, at least.)

We have now entered my favorite stage of grand parenthood with our oldest - the high school years.  It is so exciting to see her mature searching for her way in life -- trying new things out, making good decisions the majority of the time. 

 She is thinking about careers that suit her personality leaning toward something creative.  Last semester in school she even took an elective class in welding -- I think she has definitely eleminated that as a career option, however.  She has always enjoyed photography, and took a class last summer at the local college.  I was impressed with her eye for composition.  Right now with the importance of Facebook in teenager's lives, she is really into self-portraits and editing.  Here are a couple of pictures that I borrowed from her Facebook page that she took of herself, then edited.

But who knows -- she has three more years of high school -- exciting times ahead!!

All I know is that I don't want to exercise the grandparent tool any more on her -- I want to keep her close forever.

P.S.:  I'm sure there will be more to report on our impish grandson after he outgrows the semi-obnoxious stage -- the grandparent tool is still needed in his case.