When Rose
and I were first married we had a lovely little cat named Chenille. She was the
first cat that I ever cohabitated with and I enjoyed (almost) all of Chenille’s
cat behavior as Rose and I “parented” our cat together.
We must have
driven our friends crazy as they talked to us of their kids and the cute things
that they were doing as they reached various developmental milestones. So often
our natural response was “that’s just like our cat Chenille, she does that
too!”
When you
don’t have small kids around, your pet becomes just like a kid to you.
Everything that your cat or dog does seems so endearing in the absence of a
little human in your life (and sometimes even when you are lucky enough to have
both).
Later we had
kids of our own and realized how silly (and annoying) it is when people compare
their pets to your kids! But hey, we did it too, we get it.
Now we have
a granddaughter (Juniper Jewell) and we have stumbled onto a very curious thing.
Shhhhh!
I don’t know if I have developed a very selective memory over the years about being a parent or maybe I’m just turning into a great big softy. But there is definitely something very, very special about being a grandparent and the relationship that is possible with a grandbaby.
I say possible because like any relationship, one with a grandchild takes a lot of work and is definitely a big investment in time, energy, money and emotional currency. It’s a short term investment sometimes as you monkey around with a toddler trying like heck to coax a smile or laugh out of them.
And it’s a
long term investment as well when you struggle to get them to eat something
that they may not like, but you do it because that’s what they need. They don’t
know any better, they’re babies! And discipline in particular is not fun, we’re
not looking forward to that particular (NO!) stage of development!
But there is
something incredibly beautiful about just….being there….loving them…..caring
for them…..listening to them…..reading to them…..sharing your interests with
them…..helping them any way you can.
You don’t
have to be an expert in parenting/grand parenting or have a lot of money to
make a difference in their life. You just have to be there for them and show
them that you care. You have to make yourself available in a very accessible
way, preferably on the floor if you can manage it!
Fortunately
Rose and I have more time on our hands these days being within shouting
distance of retirement, “HELLO RETIREMENT, DON’T RUN AWAY, WE”RE COMING!”
As an added
bonus, being ready, willing and able to help out our daughter and her husband
with Juniper (Junie) when they need help or a break, or she’s not well enough
to go to daycare or whatever else they need has also helped to draw us closer
to them.
Parenting
can be hard and fortunately we’ve been able to help out from time to time
and we recently started looking after Junie one day a week when Kait went back
to work when Junie was eleven months old.
We had Junie
(J, JJ, June, Juno) today and I just couldn’t stop looking at her and patting
her and rubbing her back and playing with her and walking her around and
thinking just how much I (we) love her! And how very, very lucky we are to have
her in our lives and to be able to spend so much time with her, helping her to
grow and learn and develop as she should.
And after
she goes home and every other day as well, we pray for her, for her future,
that she would thrive and grow and have opportunities and always be loved and
cherished and that she in turn would be kind to others.
I see how
much Rose loves her and how good she is with her, how available and caring and
all of the other things I mentioned earlier and I get all teary eyed and think
how lucky I am to have such a great wife. And I see Rose watching me and how
much fun Junie and I have together and how much I love that little munchkin’
and Rose gets all teary eyed and says nice things to me. And sometimes I see Kait smiling when she
hears me call Junie my little “sweet potato” and I know she loves to see us
together, being a family.
She’s a fortunate
little girl to have parents who love her and grandparents on both sides who
love her and aunties who love her and even a cousin (Leon) who I’m sure loves
her in his own little guy way and even with all of this crazy love everywhere flowing
Junie wise, I feel like we are truly the lucky ones!
That kid is
a serious blessing in our lives!
