A Week With My Granddaughter

My granddaughter has been at my home since last Friday night.  This means my wife and I have been full time grandparents all week.  First of all, hats off to all grandparents who are raising their grandchildren full time.  I was 27 years old when Chloe’s father was born and 31 years old when his brother came along.  I spent my thirties and forties raising my children.  I am now 65 years old and my wife is 63 years old.  We are not used to having a 12 year old girl in our home 24/7, especially one full of teenage existential angst.  Young girls have quite a lot of drama in their life.  I love my granddaughter to the moon and back.  She’s a really cool kid and she has given me a lot of joy.  However, I am not used to being the home work police or a chauffeur doing the school drop off each morning as well as the after school pick up.  I feel like I am driving a thousand miles a day in rush hour traffic.  When it is bedtime and grandma and grandpa are more than ready for dreamland, she is bouncing off the walls with endless energy.  Most of this energy is spent doing things that make me laugh.  I guess it is obvious why most of us have our children when we are young.  It takes a lot of energy to be a parent, especially if you are a single mom or dad.  In spite of these challenges to my old age, I treasure this time.  It feels like Chloe was just born yesterday and she is already 12 years old.  It won’t be too many more years when hanging out with grandpa and grandma will be low on her priority list.  I feel very blessed that Chloe and I bonded very early in her life.  There is not much we don’t discuss although she sometimes gets weary of me giving her so many “life lessons”.  I told her that’s part of my job description as a grandfather.  Most of the time we just hang out together and each do our own thing.  I feel very blessed to have her in my life.