My children have been living away from home for years, and my grandchildren come for sporadic visits (only 1 or 2 at a time without their parents). We have four in one family (ages almost 12,twins aged 9 1/2 and 6) and two in another. I forgot how exhausting the day to day care of kids can be. My hat is off to all you young mothers (particularly single moms or those whose husbands travel a lot). Today, as never before, I have been aware of the truth of the old saying about God being smart to give children to the young. We oldies haven't quite enough energy to keep up with them for 48 hours! And yes, I know about the woman who gave birth at age 62 and I am still wondering why on earth she wanted to.
I knew they would be here for a while without their parents, but I thought it would be for 3-4 hours. Their aunt has been keeping them all week, while their mom and step-dad have been in the Bahamas. They were supposed to return last night, but their plane had mechanical trouble and by the time they reached Ft. Lauderdale, they had missed their connector flight. The earliest they could get home was around dinner time tonight. So, since the aunt had to go back to where she lives and works.....I had the four of them since noon yesterday. I love them to pieces, of course, as grandmas do......but I was glad to see them getting into the homeward bound car this evening. I am pretty sure that mr. kenju felt the same. Of course, later this evening, we will talk about how sweet they are and how much we love them.
Just cooking for them has been a chore. I remember how time-consuming it was to cook for growing boys and girls, but back then it didn't cost as much...LOL. We had chicken and dumplings with carrots and green beans for dinner last night, with fresh sliced strawberries over praline ice cream for dessert. This morning, I scrambled 13 eggs, microwaved 1/2 a pound of bacon, toasted 10 slices of bread. At lunch, they had grilled cheese sandwiches, salad with grape tomatoes and more strawberries and ice cream. For dinner tonight, we had hamburgers, baked beans, mac and cheese and more ice cream - butter pecan this time. I've gone through a gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice and a 2 liter bottle of caffeine-free, diet soda. Oh, and I forgot the bananas. I guess it's back to the grocery for me. Two of them will be here again next weekend for the St. Patrick's Day parade.....LOL
Before you ask, I am not allowed to post photos of my grandkids on the web now, otherwise, I would probably bore you to death wtih their photos, seeing as how they are so beautiful and handsome and smart and poised and talented and well.........I'm just sayin'.....
Remember the loveseat I posted a photo of last week? It just sold on Ebay for more than a local re-sale shop said they could get for it. Hurrah!
20 comments:
Sounds you and Mr. Kenju had a busy and agitated day! And very happy, too! I am thinking ... I am 63 and I don't have grandchildren yet ... Oh my ... I hope I will have enough energy to keep up with them, too!
Oh Kenju I feel just like you when I do see my kids..and honestly, the amount they EAT!
But i love them to death...just like you and Mr K...
Minerva
What about that old saying "If I knew grandkids were such fun I'd have had them first?" Heh. Poopie 1-Judy 0
Oh- I hear you. Need me to pick you up anything at the grocery store? I'm there every darn day!!
my best friend is a single mom of a 6.5 year old and i co-parent with her a few days per week. he totally wears me out.
here from michele's.
Four of my grandchildren, ages 9 and 7 and 7 and 5 live about 10 minutes away so we get to "keep" them frequently. they are loads of fun but better when they come singularly. 2 are my daughter's and 2 my son's children.
What is the old saying about grandmothers. We get to
"feed them sugar and send them home" :)
Sometimes we single moms actually look forward to going to work on Monday morning. ;) Nyssa was always better behaved at other peoples homes. I know this means I trained her well but sometimes I wished I could be the stranger for a while.
But, she has turned out quite well I think, has a bit of trouble calling MOM when she gets to where she's going to...on spring break trip to Mississippi. Oh, and she still seems to have her own personal tornado traveling with her... a little like the dust storm that always flies around the Peanuts character, PigPen. I keep hoping she will outgrow that.
I'm exhausted just reading about how much you had to cook at each meal---and how about the cleaning up part! Help!! I know you love them with all your heart Judy, but I can also hear how exhausting it is, too...(I must say I wondered about that woman of 62 who gave birth...like, Why? Didn't they say she has 14 children already??? Or am I confusing her with someone else.)
How about a hats off to us OLD (and exhausted) single mothers? If I had a nickel for every time someone asked if they were my grandkids, I'd have... maybe a dollar.
I know how you feel. My 14 month old Grandson and his parents have been living with us since September. I think I have read one book since then. Even with his parents here he takes up lots of time. They are moving soon and I am both gladto be getting my peaceful life back and sad to know he won't be giving me a hug every morning.
My hub's grandparents were here for a week recently. During their visit, they asked me if I needed anything from the store, and I said I needed another gallon of milk, if they didn't mind.
They didn't come home with the milk because his grandmother had seen just under 1/2 gallon of milk in the fridge and she thought it would last for the rest of the week.
I guess she'd forgotten how much milk a family consumes because it was gone the next morning! LOL.
Glad you enjoyed the kiddos, but I know you were glad to get some peace and quiet too. I feel the same way every once in a while when MY girls leave the house! LOL
Hi Judy, is this a new template you are using? it looks good, lots of space.
The best part of grand-parenting is the ability to hand them back to their parents.
I'll be home in a couple of days and will check the posts I've missed.
Whenever my (growing) son visits his grandparents the month supplies are gone within a day or so... We had a Canadian exchange student last year with us, I have never been to the store so often like during those months! (but if was fun!)
We would have money if we were not feeding kids. Seriously. That is one of the reasons I grow a large garden!
Tiring, yes. But a good kind of tired. :)
Grandkids -- you gotta love 'em. (What CHOICE do you have? lol)
As for the love seat, I FIGURED that would fetch a bundle. Congrats!
John
I am looking forward to my trip to Hawaii next week to visit my granddaughter. My daughter is expecting a son the 24th so I am hoping I will get to see my new grandson.
At least with grandkids, you always have the option of giving them back. One my parents exercised liberally, I might add. Even against my will! :-)
I'm sure your grandchildren are worthy of every compliment you gave them & more.
You sure fed them well! I was drooling while reading about all that ice cream. YuMMMMy!
My kids are teens now, so the work has diminished quite a bit. They still like for me to cook for them though. I enjoy that. But, little ones really do take a lot of energy just to keep up with them.
I LOVED that love seat. I even showed the photo to my husband who thinks my blogging habits are "wierd", but even he loved it.
I commented to him, if you didn't live so far away and the shipping wouldn't probably kill me, I would have purchased it. Good for you that you sold it. E-Bay is wonderful isn't it?
Post a Comment