December 19, 2019 – Two Cents Worth of Mom Life

My husband and I were talking the other weekend on our way to a family Christmas get together about grandparents. He is fortunate to have 3 of his 4 grandparents still with us that we love to see and we are even more excited that we, along with his brothers and other cousins get to share their great grandchildren with.

I was blessed to have many years with each of my grandparents as well but they are no longer here with us and it feels like forever.

He did ask me how old they would be if they were still with us. That kind of took me off guard when I did the math. They would be anywhere from 98 to 106 years old. My one grandmother did live a great life until she was 96, which was incredible. It makes me feel a bit selfish when I still wish they were here to have met my son.

Every year for my birthday growing up, when I was old enough to acknowledge how special they were to me, I would blow out my candles and wish they would be able to be at my wedding.
They may not have been physically, but I do know they were there.

We continued our topic along the lines about how special our grandparents are and the great memories we have with them. We hear stories from our parents how they were with them growing up and we have a hard time believing some stories because well, they were never that way with us.

Grandparents have a different kind of love with their grandchildren.

Now that we have a child, we get to witness it firsthand. It makes me realize even more now, how special they really are in our lives. When you are the grandkid getting all the love and attention, you just know you are spoiled and get what you want from them because they say yes when mom & dad say no. However, what you do not realize is that they love you in a different way than your mom and dad can. It is not that they love you more than them or better than they can; it is something that is indescribable but so, so special.

It is almost as though they found a place they did not know existed in their heart that has so much extra love that has been waiting on these babies to arrive and when they do, they cannot help but smother them with their love.

I love to hear my hubby tell me about all he remembers from his grandparents growing up because I learn more about them that way and I get to watch him light up when he remembers that memory. I do the same and tell him stories of my grandparents. We relish in those moments that make us smile and feel warm and fuzzy inside.

It brings back the fun of our childhood for us and those special moments we will forever cherish in our own hearts. That special spot in their hearts that I mentioned before, kids have one too that holds those moments for them as well. We hold onto those moments so incredibly tight that to this day I still miss my grandparents as much as I did the day they left because they have that special place in my heart. The same goes for my husband and his grandfather.

Our son has four grandparents that we get to watch turn into mush and love on him when they see him. It is something special to watch each of them interact with him and how he can make them light up in a different way than we have seen them before.

He is the first grandchild to my parents as I am an only child. I couldn’t have imagined how much my parents would change with him. The good kind of change. It’s like a whole new light came on with them. My mom is so fun to watch with him while she talks and plays with him. They have their own special thing already. And my dad has even got down on the floor to try and teach my son how to crawl, which is totally not something we expected!

That’s what is so fun to watch, how everyone finds that kind of bond among the children and the grandparents. Now is when they get to enjoy every single moment with their grand children and not be so worried about them like they were when they were new parents. That special bond is something only they know and the kids do too.

Whether you have them with you still or they are watching over you, soak in those memories and relive them over and over by telling the fun memories you may remember. I can not stress enough how you don’t want to miss the moments in a grandchild’s life because as a grand kid myself, we cherish what we remember and we’re only children for a little while.

The holidays bring back many memories and allow us to make many more with whom we have. Use this time to smile on all of those memories and get that warm fuzzy feeling inside. I know we will be relishing in the moments of watching our son make those memories as he grows.

I hope you and yours have had a wonderful Christmas!

There is an unspoken rule among moms.

We are not allowed to get sick.

If you did not know this, you may be a dad. Just saying.

I’m not trying to take a dig at my hubby here because I have a rock star husband and dad to our little boy. I could go on and on about all he does for us, but this is not a post for that right now. (love you, honey!)

For whatever the reason may be, men were designed to be the sickest of the sick when a common cold comes along. I’m not sure if their bodies weren’t equipped with the proper genes to fight off the germs or they just don’t like to wash their hands every time they use the bathroom. Actually, let’s not think about that last statement…

Either way, recently, our house was under attack from the common daycare snotty nose cold that made its way into my husband’s sinuses and mine. Our pediatrician warned us early of the many colds we will come across with our son in daycare.

A little boast about our daycare, we love our daycare because he has THE best teachers that I can’t brag about enough.
Don’t come at me about daycare vs. no daycare, please.

Somehow, while we were all sick, my son remained the happiest baby ever. I’m so thankful for that, snot running constantly and all. On the weekend though, we all had our ways of dealing with it. My hubby and son curled up on the couch with college football on and relaxed to fight it off. Me on the other hand, it was GO time!

Go time is that list you make in your head throughout the week of the 100 things you want to get done at home in a short amount of time and hope you remembered enough of them to put on the physical hand written list at home so you don’t forget to do them.

I recall my husband smiling at me and telling our son, “look at mom, we’re all sick but somehow she feels fine and here we are on the couch being bums.” It was a cute moment but that is reality. It’s not to brag but to state the reality we all face as moms.

If we don’t do it, it won’t get done. And to be honest, I feel better when I am up and moving while sick. The congestion doesn’t have time to set in, so I tell myself. Sure I load up on the standard over the counter drugs to keep the cold at bay and drink lots of water, when I remember.

As moms, let’s add this to our list of super powers we have that we didn’t know about until we became moms. *high five to all you moms who have been sick and will get sick this winter but power through because well, you’re a kick ass mom!*