Grandparenthood

Alana and Hannah - new borns

Just under twelve months ago I entered a new phase of my life - grandparenthood. Now, up until then, when engaged in conversation with a grandparent I was ...... polite. I would listen politely as they described to me how cute their little grandson/daughter was - how they giggled and gooed, how clever they were to grasp at their fingers, how they recognised them and smiled as they walked in the door, how fast they could crawl etc etc.

I would listen in bewilderment as they told me how 'funny' their grandchildren were - how they did this and that and "oh gosh, I could just sit and watch them all day". What?? Really? All day?

How can watching a baby be .... funny? interesting? worthy of telling and retelling? All babies smile, crawl and grasp at hands - why is this clever? Get a life.

What I didn't realise is that they did have a life - the life of the grandparent. And what a life!

Now - I find myself stopping innocent passers-by and regaling them with little snippets of information about my grandchildren - my twin grand-daughters Hannah and Alana.

Like the time I attended the funeral of my sister-in-law's father. It was in the little township of Nobby on the Darling Downs and after the very moving and emotional service we all gathered at the local church hall for the wake. The room was filled with family and close friends and I knew none of them save for my sister-in-law's immediate family.

But from across the room I spied a young mother, sitting on the stairs leading up to the stage, feeding her new born baby. I made my way over to her - a woman on a mission - and smiled. "How old is he?" (he was wearing blue, that's how I knew it was a  boy), "he's lovely," (he was), "is he good?"

And then I started. I couldn't stop. The words just poured out of my mouth. "I have twins .... identical .... girls. Well, I don't (laugh), my son and his wife actually have them ......" and it went on and on. How gorgeous they are, how much joy they bring me, how I sleep over once a week to help ..... on and on and on.

The young woman sat, and listened ..... politely, And I could see in her face the question - "who is this woman?" I suddenly came to and made a hasty retreat. I looked around and desperately tried to find my sister-in-law Debbie so that I could (1) hide and (2) confess. I had to get it off my chest and bring her in the loop so that when she later heard about a deranged woman ambushing her cousin/friend/whoever, she could make an impassioned plea on my behalf and explain that I am a new grandmother and please - could they just cut me some slack?



Mirror image - who's who?

Look - I make no apologies. I am a grandmother. And I love it. And one day when you're a grandparent too - if you're not already - you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. In the meantime - listen politely as I tell you about the time they ......