“When a child is born, so is a grandmother”

The birth of my status as grandmother has been one of the most evolving and growth-oriented periods of my life. Each milestone and event that happens in our family – leads me to learn more things about myself and life.

And tonight’s big bash at our house is proof of that. Tonight, Friday night, our grandson is sleeping over at our house. He is so excited.

And so are we! (well, really me).

True, he’s not coming because of me – the grandmother. Nor is he talking about this Sleepover for the past few weeks non-stop because of my husband, or my single sons, or anything else about our house. The reason he is so very pumped about this pajama party is because his 5 year-old playmate and parents are spending the next few days with us, while they are in transition before moving to another country.

But all I know is that  it’s going to be fun (for them and for me). I have already prepared the beds (our teenage son has benevolently agreed to move out of his room to make room for the two pre-schoolers to take over his pad). We put the Toy Story and Baseball linen on and they are ready.

The shopping and food preparation are done (hence my having time to blog!).  And all I can say is that I’m feeling like a little girl who is looking forward to all the company at the table tonight (did I mention we were going to be 11 people tonight?).

I sometimes wonder why I get so elated with this grandmother/bubby thing. What is the big deal anyway?

And then I realize that it’s really very simple:

Grandmother-hood brings back childhood memories. While we were parents, we were too busy and stressed to reminisce about our childhood. So even though we were observing and participating while our children went through each one of the periods in their lives: school, camp, friends, sports, and sleepovers — we still were too concerned about their well-being to really enjoy the stages fully.

And then we became grandmothers. And we were given Chance #3 to live and enjoy childhood. This time with a clear lens, a clear focus and only having a good time.

So knowing all that,  I think I’m going to take out some popcorn, roll out the sleeping bags, and bring out the toys. Because I’m prepared to let my grandson and his friend stay up till the wee hours talking and giggling in bed.

Why not? It’s one night.

And speaking of the birth of that grandmother that I spoke of earlier, I am reminded of another quote:

“If I knew how much fun being a grandmother was, I would have done it first.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.