The Grandma Secret

I experienced the grandma secret first hand today.  For years all of my friends who already have grandchildren have been telling me that being a grandparent is even better than being a parent. 
I figured I'd just have to wait and find out for myself.  And today was the day.

My husband and I did our first official babysitting for Ella.  I had told our son that if he and our daughter-in-law wanted to go on a date, we would be more than willing, yes, even excited to come babysit Ella.  So they took the plunge and left her in our care so they could take in a movie.

When we arrived, they both apologized, saying that Ella had been fussy all morning.  She was in bed, and they were hoping she would go to sleep since she hadn't napped all day.  A little confession here...I was hoping she wouldn't go right to sleep.  Afterall, we hadn't come over just to have our precious girl sleep away the hours in her bedroom, out of sight.

I needn't have worried.  Just as they were getting ready to leave, Ella started crying and my daughter-in-law gave me the nod to go ahead and pick her up.  She didn't have to tell me twice. 

After sending Mom and Dad off to the movies, I settled into a little grandma time.  In a matter of minutes, I had Ella soothed and dozing on my lap.  She would drift off to sleep for a moment and then startle herself awake.  Finally, she settled into a deep sleep, with me mezmerized by every expression on her face. 

That's when I understood the grandma secret. As I sat there with her stretched out on my lap, I took in every detail about her sweet face.  I was bewitched by her mouth with its lower lip outlined with a thin crust of dried milk and her upper lip meeting in delicate matching peaks.  Her eyes would glide behind lightly veined lids as she watched some unknown sleeping scene. I loved how her feathered brows would be drawn down into deep furrows of concentration only to relax again the next moment. And then there would be a soft, stuttering sigh as she settled once more into peacful sleep.

I watched all of this play out over and over again for an hour and a half, and not once did I think that I should get up and try to get a load of clothes done or pay a bill, or start a meal.  Of course, I wasn't at my own house, but even if I had been, those thoughts would never have entered my mind.  Why?  Because I'm the grandma, and I know that those things can wait. I know that they must wait because my time with this precious child is limited.  She will go in and out of my days like a butterfly, here for the moment, then off again before I know it. 

So that's the grandma secret.  When I'm with my grand daughter, I'm allowed to give her all of me and not feel one ounce of guilt.  Let the dishes pile up and dinner be late, Ella gets my time and I won't be rushed.