One Lucky Great-Grandma

I hear my mom on the phone with her age-mate friends attempting to explain to them the joys of living with young children. Her friends do not think they would like to live with their great-grandchildren--all that noise and energy in their home where they cannot escape it. It's true that it is noisy and boisterous in our home with five children ages six and under. What her friends have forgotten is the other side of the equation--the exuberance and love of life that young children share with those around them. It more than makes up for the noise and chaos. And, quite frankly, it's not just my mom's elderly friends who question the value of living in a home with young children, people of all ages think themselves fortunate to not have young children disrupting their daily lives. As I write this I can hear Evan crying stridently. I know the downside. However, the upside is so incredible.

For instance, my mother--the great-grandma--gets hugs and kisses daily, if she wants them. Lincoln greets her with a little shriek of joy every morning when she comes upstairs. He can hear her rip the Velcro straps back when she puts her brace on and he runs to the top of the staircase and waits for her. That's a pretty great start to the day. Then he climbs on her lap and shares her breakfast even though he's already eaten breakfast with his siblings.

The older three great-grandchildren spend time with her as they eat lunch or do crafts around the dining room table. Currently Jake likes to do the word puzzle in the paper with great-grandma. The puzzle where you look through a grid of letters to find words vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Last year Bentley did Sudoku with her. Sometimes the children have her read to them or they read to her. Or they have her join them in a game. Sometimes she tries to wiggle her way out of playing games with them, but young children can be very persistent. 

Evan clocks a couple hours a day (or more) with great-grandma. He sleeps and she holds him. It's a good life for both of them.

When she wants some alone time, she can easily have it. Her computer and exercise machine are in the office on the main floor and the French doors to the office lock, so she can have a break, if she wants one. She never locks the doors, though. We do sometimes when we want Lincoln to stay out of the office supplies or keep off her exercise machine. And, of course, great-grandma's bedroom is on the first floor of the house which she usually has entirely to herself, so she can have as much alone time as she wants when she's down there.

 Three of the great-grandsons competing for time with great-grandma.

A wild game of Sequence goes on at the other end of the table.

 

Breakfast together.

I think my mother is one lucky woman to have so much young joy in her life. I hear her tell her friends that, so she knows it, too.