Today I attended an important graduation.

It wasn’t my own graduation. I haven’t had any of those lately, even though several years ago, I graduated from being a mom of growing children.

Today, I attended my grandson’s kindergarten ceremony.

 And it was most exciting because my husband and I enjoy watching our grandsons’ milestones.

You see, my youngest son, who is 20 and his brother above him are studying out of town. With the rest of our sons married, my husband and I have got the empty nest, and we are grateful.

We’re grateful that we’ve raised our kids already. Been there and done that….done! We don’t miss the old times – the carpool rush, the stressed morning routine, and the crazy dinner/homework time period when the house is flying.

I don’t miss the hassle of getting to events on time. Last minute bottle refills, bathroom breaks, and extra clothing changes that held us back from arriving promptly to so many events.

I don’t miss it, and wouldn’t want to go through any of that tension again.

But hey, what about the fun of outings, events, graduations and parties? I kind of miss those exciting and good memories.

Enter grandparenthood. We get to enjoy the events and outings with the grandchildren, without any of the stress. We get to be a part of creating new memories.

And we finally get to experience the feeling of  arriving on time (if not early), without any hassle.

This morning, my husband and I were invited to attend a graduation ceremony for our kindergarten grandson. At this religious school ceremony, the children celebrated completing their prayer book. They sang songs, read aloud from the prayer book, answered questions that the teacher asked, and received their special “Chumash,” which is one of the 5 Books of Moses, our Bible.

This is what the children would be studying next year in first grade, after beginning to learn from it this school year.

One of my friends who was there to watch her own grandson receive his special Chumash, pointed out to me how she and I (and several other grandmothers) were the first ones to arrive.  I looked around me as I took my seat, and I didn’t see our son, his wife, and the boys.

I didn’t see my friend’s children as well.

The two of us looked at each other and laughed. How ironic that we have reached that stage where we can arrive at an event with such minimal hassle.

As we were talking, we noted that our children (and hers) had arrived, and the kids were starting to walk down the makeshift aisle in the school lunchroom.

My husband and I were kvelling.  We all kvelled. I snapped pictures and took videos.

And my son, daughter-in-law and the others of their generation? They seemed glad to enjoy without snapping away.

I would like to be there at the next generation’s graduations in  about 25  years. I wonder if   they will be acting in similar ways to us.

Kvelling with gratitude…arriving on time. And snapping away. Because why not? We earned this chance to be less stressed.

And we are grateful for what we have. Nachas.