Mothers: What do we really want to do today? Well, it all depends on the stage of motherhood we are living in.
Stay at home mother of one or more children going through various growing stages: nursing, learning to walk, getting into everything in sight? There is an app for that, you definitely want a day off; let hubby take care of the children. A couple of hours at a day spa including a massage, mani-pedi, facial, and getting the hair done, sounds like a perfect plan.
As a matter of fact this is a perfect plan for any mother of tweens, teenagers, college bound students, kids returning home after school, or who get laid-off from their jobs–you name it. Seriously, this app works wonders under all of the above circumstances. LOL
However, if you are an empty nest mother, such as myself, the above app will still work and will make you feel good, but only for a little while. What you really want to do on Mothers’ Day is spend some time with your kids, never mind that they are adults with a family of their own and live out-of-town. A visit from the kids (so you can spoil them with dinner) is what I keep hearing from the empty-nest women I talk to.
I am a lucky mother who does not dare complain about not spending enough time with my girls because every chance we get, we are together–we seize the moment. I am a lucky mother whose heart is full of love, pride and joy for our daughters today; having them in my life is the best present of all. But, one can hope–right?
Happy Mothers’ Day, to my daughters Natalie, Yasmin and Nasima, and to all the other mothers out there, go have some fun today!
First, a bit of background information. It all started about two months ago when Natalie (our daughter) and her husband Michael had this wonderful idea—they were planning a get-away for a couple of days—and would I mind coming up to the ATL to babysit the girls? You already know my position when it comes to the grandkids, of course I will do it. When, was my response?
As luck will have it, Airtran (my preferred airline) sent a promotional email announcing they were running a special–$35 each way from Sarasota to Atlanta and points in between; you know we jumped on that one. Then, as we were getting ready to buy tickets, it hit me. Wait a grandmamma minute I will be alone with the baby (4 months, breastfed only up to this point) and Little Miss Lauryn, (3 years old) who I will need to take to and pick-up from school—for two days? Am I crazy? What was I thinking!
Here we come!
Second great idea, someone else will need to co-manage this situation with me—enter Tati Lydia (my sister) who lives in Miami, and lucky for her Delta (her preferred airline) was offering the same deal as Airtran. It was a hilarious situation, trust me; coordinating ticket buying, on two airlines and we had to buy them before midnight that day, it was already 9:30 p.m. After enough drama going back and forth, at 11:45 p.m., it was all set; we will be flying to Atlanta on December 8. Mission accomplished.
Oblivious to the Grandmas' drama, LOL
I had already spent time babysitting my grandchildren before, so that was not the problem. My concern this time was the baby, Sydney; who was breastfed exclusively, no formula/bottles had crossed her tiny lips to this point. It became a running joke between Natalie and me during our pre-trip phone conversations. I kept telling her I was not worried about Lauryn—she talks, is potty trained and will certainly let me know when she needs something. No problem there at all—Sydney on the other hand, I envisioned going on a “hunger strike”, no mommy–no food. So please practice giving her formula from a bottle. Two days before we arrived in Atlanta, she finally did; we were very pleased with this development. No hunger strike during our watch, yeah!
So here we were, Tati Lydia and Grandma Marcia, enjoying the girls; relaxing from our usual chores, reveling in the fact we could finally spend some sister time together, catch up on our lives, in person this time (we talk on the phone daily); and Natalie and Michael were on their planned escape to Savannah, well deserved, I might add.
Girls just want to have fun
The trip to school and back, no problem. Lydia stayed home with the baby while I picked-up Lauryn. The funny stuff came later. Before the parents left on Friday, we received detailed instructions, complete with demonstrations on how to do this and how to do that—how the car seat works, prepare the formulas, how many ounces, give her vitamins, tuck the girls at night, how to fill the humidifier with water, read a story…yeah, yeah, yeah… been there done that, we raised you all, did we not? You turned out ok, did you not?
On Saturday, Lydia and I decided to take the girls out to Kanga Zoom (a playground) and then to the Chickin’ store as Lauryn calls it (Chick-fil-A). All was well until it was time to get the baby in the carrier that process took more than five minutes with both of us trying, and then voila she was in—now we just had to figure out how to set her in the car seat and we’d be good to go. Let me tell you, right here and now—those things are a menace to grandparents! We got her in, but when we arrived at Kanga Zoom? Grandma could not remember what buttons to press to release the da** carrier, and Tati Lydia stood outside the car cracking up, with Lauryn as her accomplice, telling me stuff like “maybe Lauryn knows what to do”, oh… shut up, I said; you try it then. She did and it worked, WTH…! By the time we got to the Chickin’ store about two hours later, we were delirious with laughter. Michael told us what to do—we just thought we knew better. LOL
Easy stroller; no complicated instructions needed.
Back in the days when we were raising our girls, we made do with those “umbrella type” strollers that were light as heck, did not require any complicated instructions and were easy enough to carry with one hand. You know what, after all this excitement; we did not attempt whatsoever to take Sydney’s stroller out of the car trunk. Thank goodness, Lauryn can walk! That is it for this Grandma tale, I am sure there will be more to come. LOL
Stroller and plane images courtesy of Google images.
Just so you know, I did not forget about you. I had very important assignments during the last few months, and they took precedence over my blogging duties. So much has happened in our lives since the last time I spoke to you.
Here goes, Miss Elisa Londyn was born on May 30 2011, the beautiful bundle of joy’s parents were beside themselves, in more ways than one. Does anyone remember the first few days after delivery? I do, very vividly, not only my own but our daughters’ too. Miss Elisa arrived on a Monday afternoon, and took her departure from the comfort of her mother’s womb very seriously; when I met her approximately 30 minutes later, all she had to say was a loud “whoa, whoa, whoa!!!” She cried as if to say “who let me out? I was doing just fine in there, Grandma. I want my mommy!
Elisa, Lauryn and Sydney
Let me tell you, as one of the two proud grandmas I was beside myself with joy. I stayed with the new parents for about 10 days to help ease them into their brand new role. Time spent was priceless; we bonded like nobody’s business and by the time I left, everyone was pretty much in sync with each other. Daddy took to being the “poopy diaper engineer” and mommy thrilled at being relieved of this particular job. Of course, she too, eventually had to step-up to the “poopy” plate. Mind you grandma was on task from the beginning but had to make sure to delegate duties just before returning home.
That was granddaughter number two; you still remember our first, Miss Lauryn, “the big sister” as she is known these days? Sydney Joyce, granddaughter number 3, arrived on July 30, to the delight of little Miss Lauryn, her parents and grandparents; Miss Lauryn has taken control of the situation, for the most part. She is mommy’s little helper, checking in on her little sister regularly and reporting to mommy when she believes there is a diaper change in order.
According to her auntie “Titi”, Lauryn can talk to little Sydney; we had a few hilarious moments a few weeks ago when all three grand-kids, parents and grandparents convened together for a baby meet-up. Titi asked Miss Lauryn one day, what her sister wanted because she was crying; she responded: “she says she wants to eat, and I think she has a poopy diaper!” We all rolled over with laughter at that assessment; and you know what? She was right!
BTW, I will never forget Sidney’s arrival into this world either; I was in the birthing room. I will never forget seeing her little head come out and without prompting and right before the shoulders were out, she made her singing debut, she was like “at last, what the heck took you all so long?” I’ve been ready for this!
Stay tuned; I am sure this will be a joyous and totally funny ride. I love my grand babies and their parents tremendously; they are my pride and joy. I am thankful for them, and am especially thankful for the wealth of material they are going to supply Grandma with for the pages of this blog!
Everything in life is about a time and a season; right now it is grandparents’ season in our life.
As I patiently (not really) wait for the arrival of our grand baby girl number 3; I can’t help but think back to my own early days as my mother’s daughter. Back then, I had a question and answer for everything, but most of all, I had convinced myself that my parents didn’t know anything about the trials of growing up. I was sure they had both been born as adults, skipped childhood entirely… and then became our parents! LOL!
Well let me tell you! I found out what my mother meant when she said: “just wait until you have your own” over thirty plus years ago, when I became a mother for the first time and; many times since then wondered if our own children felt the same way about us, my hubby and I, as parents. It does not really matter, because by now I am quite sure they are feeling the same way I did when hit with the awareness of self discovery. Parenthood changes everything, and I mean everything! In our case, it was for the better, the reasons for doing anything became our children.
Before their arrival, it was a party all the time (hey, we were young adults) but when they entered our lives the parties changed, they moved home, and became children birthday parties instead, for the most part. Where did the time go? I find myself telling people these days to make sure they enjoy their children (I am glad I did) because they grow up way too fast. Before you know it and if you are lucky, they become adults, and make you a grandparent. OMG!!! Where did the time go?!
Let me tell you, my mother was right; and at some point I know my own daughters will feel the same way too, life is a cycle. We are born, grow up, and then die. The only things that matter are the in-between; how we live our lives is what counts, we have no way of knowing how long we have on this earth—but I can assure you, currently I am in grandmother’s heaven. I have enjoyed the process of helping (along with my hubby) create two great human beings in our two daughters, and now beam at seeing them and their hubbies taking on the challenges of parenthood; and now look forward to being around when they tell their own children what grandma used to say: “just wait until you have your own” Lol! “Magra” was my granddaughter, Lauryn’s first name for me, that was before I graduated to Grandma (my current moniker) when she could finally pronounce it); since I am a Latina I will also answer to Abuela. I am anxious to hear what Elisa and soon to arrive new Baby C will be calling me; they can call me Grandma, Nana, Nona, Oma, Ya-Ya, all meaning “grandmother” in various cultures around the world; I will answer to any of those names, as long as they are coming from my grand babies, and it is said with LOVE!
Marcia C
Chica on the Move 