Grandparenting: It's a whole lotta love (Revisted)

Here is another favorite that I am resharing tonight as I continue my April hiatus.  It is appropropriate with the recent announcements of two additional Grandkids soon to join our family by year's end.  During this particularly emotional and challenging month, these little gifts have succeeded in  keeping a song in my heart many times.  I have been especially gifted with the plentiful presence of our oldest, Niko, who is the son of the son we lost 6 years ago this month.  Niko isn't sure how to take all these additions - "Babies, babies, babies...Everyone loves babies!" - but we assure him that he will always be the apple of our eye, the firstborn shining light.  So I hope you enjoy my asides about Grandparenting again, and hug 'em if you got 'em...

Tonight at the Friday Night Cocktail Hour, Chip and I are toasting to the newest addition in the family - our Grandson, Deo Sequoia.  Since his arrival on 2/21 in the early morning hours, I have found myself often thinking of him and how amazing it is to be a Grandmother again.  Whether it is by choice or default, this experience is not one that everyone will have in their lifetime.  I do not take this gift lightly.  It is one of my highest points of gratitude.
Like nearly 90% of women (yes, that many), I spent the first 30 years of my adult life striving to be a good mother.  As I told a dear bonus daughter of mine the other day, I was far from perfect at it -  but the love and relationship I have with my children was worth every ounce of energy put into the effort. I have had the gift of bearing children I fell in love with and also adding children through marriage that I have grown in love with.    Parenting requires that you love your children in many different ways, and some of those are not always pleasant.  But as that love endures, it strengthens and matures.  Parenting is wonderful, but it takes commitment and work.  It becomes a two-sided relationship as children become adults, and it has it's bumps and wrinkles.

Grandparenting has felt very different to me, and the addition of our little Deo has enlightened me to why. You see, I first met Niko when he was 3, and I will never forget the first time I saw him.  It was immediate and sudden - my heart nearly burst with love.  At first, I assumed it might be due to the fact that he was the only son of a son I had lost, which would make sense.  But over the last 4 years, I have suspected it was much more.  No matter what he's doing, that little boy has me charmed, and I allow him rope that I would never have given my children.  It's not that I don't discipline him when needed, or encourage his parents to be firm, but it's just a different kind of correction that always ends with ice cream or cookies.  He hasn't just got my love - I have been conquered by his love.  From the first moment our eyes met.
Now, here comes Deo, and due to distance, I couldn't be present at his birth.  But through the marvels of technology, Jeremy sent me a picture of him nearly moments after his arrival.  And there it was again - BAM! My heart nearly burst.  I was once again conquered.  I was smitten by yet another little boy, my 2nd grandson. I have come to the conclusion that there's not much more to this Grandparenting thing than a whole lotta love, and I think I'm going to just relax and enjoy that.  Yes, I think we've earned it.
So tonight, we are toasting to being smitten by our grandkids and drinking a beverage called appropriately, 'Smitten'.  As we continue to love our adult children and watch them do the same with their children, we will revel in the love and relationship we have with the little ones.  May our time with them always end with cookies and ice cream.
CHEERS Friends!