A Moment With My Grandchildren!

[John & Dana]

Kimberly (8): Kimberly is an intelligent, energetic girl who loves horses and the piano. While caring for John & Dana’s girls when they were out of town, I was staying at their home and sleeping in their bed. One night Kimberly came in and noticed that the covers were pulled back on the one side of the bed. She was thoughtful for a minute and then informed me that I was sleeping on her Dad’s side of the bed but she guessed it was OK. I smiled and told her that the other side was her Mom’s so I had to sleep on one side or the other. She gave me that patient, all-knowing look that children have and then said in a matter-of-fact tone, “There’s the middle!” :-)

Alicia (6): With energy to spare, Alicia tackles life head on! She is learning to read and likes to put together puzzles. She loves to draw flowers and I’ve been given several of her artistic endeavors. She and her sisters stayed with us this last Sunday and she was thrilled to find out that she would be attending Kevin’s primary class! She happily skipped off to primary holding onto Kevin’s hand. What a sweet picture that was! Our drive home that evening was difficult. It had been snowing and the roads were icy. Just before leaving, however, Alicia had given the prayer at dinner. She had sweetly asked Heavenly Father to “bless Grandma that we could drive home safely.” As I drove, the memory of that trusting prayer filtered through my mind and I was sure we’d be all right. If we all could just have the faith of a child!

Natalie (21 mo.): As one of my youngest grand-daughters, Natalie is petite but her size is no indicator of her energy. She is well loved, almost TOO loved by her older sisters. They “mother” her constantly and you often hear her squeals of protest. On Monday I had my first experience spending time with just Natalie while the older girls were at school. She was like a prisoner set free! :-) She ran, danced, jumped and giggled, playing with such abandoned joy that it was wonderful watching her. At one point she stuffed her blanket and favorite bear into the vanity cupboard in the bathroom and then climbed in with them. After a few moments the door started to open very carefully and her small face was peeking out at me with a huge grin. How could I help but smile back!

[Randal & Marian]

Ethan (5): Ethan is a bright and loving boy who is already learning to read. During the family’s recent Christmas visit, Tammy and I were sitting at the kitchen table with Ethan. Ken had gone downstairs and within a few minutes we could hear him hammering away at something. I was surprised because we’d supposedly “finished” the basement only a few days before. Turning to Tammy I asked her if she knew what her father was hammering on but she shook her head “no” saying she had no idea. Ethan looked back and forth between us as if surprised that we didn’t know and then confidently and firmly stated – “A Nail”! :-)

Adelaide (2): Addie is a sweet, but determined, two-year old who definitely has a mind of her own. She has quite a vocabulary and is not afraid to express her own opinion! She has ideas about nap time, meal time, bath time or just about any time! She can calmly tell you “no” without even breaking stride, making eye contact or changing direction. And she’s not above telling you very loudly “TWO MORE MINUTES!” if she wants a little more time. :-) A few weeks ago we found ourselves rushing around at a very early hour in order to go to the airport after their Christmas visit. It happened to be Randal’s birthday and the kids had been briefly reminded to give their dad a birthday greeting as we rushed around. The roads were snowy that morning and Randal was carefully doing the driving. We were all fairly quiet, whether from the tense road conditions or the early hour, I’m not sure, when suddenly from the backseat you could hear this sweet little voice quietly singing, “Happy Birthday to Daddy . . .” What better gift could a dad receive!

[Michael & Gail]

Emma (5): Emma is an enthusiastic and artistic girl who loves school. Michael recently had surgery and I found myself doing “Grandma duty” while Gail stayed at the hospital with him. Emma was off-track so we had a great day filled with art work, games and movies. She is a loving grand-daughter who often comes to sit on my lap and at the same time gives generous hugs. At one point she was patting my shoulder and then suddenly patted my hair, saying kindly “You used to have brown hair but now you have gray. That’s ‘cause you’re old!” With that I got an even bigger hug before she ran off to play. Oh, the honesty of children! (sigh)

Aaron (4): Aaron is a loving boy who takes off running when he sees me, yelling “Grandma Jan-Jan” as he barrels into me, wrapping his arms around my legs. I know my feet better be planted firmly on the floor when I see him coming! :-) He loves the film “Cars” and can usually be seen toting an armful of little toy cars from the movie. He loves to draw and his mom has wisely provided plenty of paper, crayons and colored pencils that he can use. While staying with them recently, Aaron drew me several very detailed pictures, explaining each part of the drawing and telling me very seriously that I could keep them. Then he carefully drew a picture for his dad, who was having surgery, because, as Aaron explained to me “Daddy was going to be hurt!”

Rebekah (2): With a huge smile that she usually delivers while wrapping her arms around my legs, Rebekah’s sunny disposition is infectious. So far she seems to be ignoring the terrible 2’s and is fairly contented, especially if she can watch “Dora, the Explorer” on TV. :-) She does have her moments to be mischievous, however. A few weeks ago I was watching the kids while mom and dad were away. I’d been warned that Bekah loves water but somehow she managed to give me the slip. She had been napping for about an hour when I discovered the water running in the downstairs bathroom! She had stuffed the sink with toilet paper and then turned on the water. Fortunately for me, toilet paper is fairly porous and although the sink was full, it had not overflowed. It did take me a little time to dig all that soggy TP out from around the plug! :-)

[Keith & Delores]

Abigail (1): With a gentle disposition and a sweet smile that she readily uses, Abigail is our youngest grandchild and has recently learned to walk. She is also learning to talk and has that cute way of repeating favorite words if prompted. Her parents have taught her to repeat the usual animal sounds, with one very different addition. She knows how to howl like a wolf! You can’t help but smile when you ask her what a wolf says and her little mouth puckers into a sweet little high-pitched howl! In only a few short months she will have a new baby at her home and I'm sure she'll be a great big sister!

My grandchildren are full of life and love and I'm grateful to be their grandmother. There's a quote I've heard often: "If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first!" (Lois Wyse)