Grandparenting

I’ve been a grandparent since 1992, and anyone who is a grandparent knows the absolute overpowering joy that comes with that role. I used to have a plaque that said: “If I had known how wonderful grandchildren are, I would have had them first.” I can’t even find adequate words to describe the joys of grandparenting.
However, I have tried not to blog about specific grandchildren because I’m always afraid I will accidently favor one or the other. Writing too much about one and perhaps leaving someone out. But since it’s September and Grandparents Day was on September 11 (it’s always the 2nd Sunday), I’m sharing this picture of me, Russ, and our 19 grandchildren.


Our Grandchildren - July 2010

We have many, many, many pictures of them all about the house.  I’ve even devoted an entire corner of the kitchen counter to displaying their pictures.

Various family members have given me nice “sayings” that express how my husband and I feel.  Here are a few:

     

 

Since Trey was my first grandchild, his parents got to decide what I would be called, and they chose “Grammy,” which I love.  We are Grammy and Grandpa.

Just one quick story that reminds us all how truly wonderful it is to be a grandparent. Our 2^nd youngest grandchild, Afton, slept over one night.  She slept soundly in her little toddler bed upstairs.  Because our bedroom is downstairs and we wanted to be sure we would hear her if she needed us in the night, we plugged in the baby monitor.  We didn’t set an alarm for the next morning, knowing Afton would wake us up.  We expected to hear crying or even shouting to us to get her up the next morning, but instead we woke to the most beautiful sound in the world:  Afton singing.  Yes, no annoying alarm clock, no yelling child, just this sweet, sweet voice of an angel singing one song after another.  We jumped up and ran upstairs to give our little angel a big hug and “good morning.”  Grandchildren!  We are blessed.

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President Jimmy Carter first declared Grandparents Day as a national holiday in 1978. Who knew? For more information, go here.

Also, if you want to see what I published about grandparenting in the magazine LDS Living, you'll find my articles in the March/April 2007 issue, page 26, "Over the River and Through the Woods, Staying Close to the Grandchildren." And in the November/December 2006 issue, page 70, "Traditions for the Grandkids."