Parenting vs. Grandparenting

As I have stated before, I have a new grandson. Since his mother is my youngest, 24 years have passed since she was an infant. I didn't realize how much I have aged. How was I able to handle not only one - but 4 children? I had forgotten how much work an infant is, and I now know why grandparenting is not meant to be a full-time job.

Due to the job market in Michigan, my daughter and her son have moved in with us. This is not the ideal situation - since we had previously downsized to a 2-bedroom apartment. I now have my home office in my bedroom. Since we had moved from a 4-bedroom house to a 2-bedroom apartment four years ago, and still have too much to keep here, a storage unit is mandatory. We are now looking again for a house with room to spread. That means yard work, snow removal, repairs, etc. At this stage in our lives it was not the direction we had anticipated.

Nothing is ever perfect, however, and we have to regroup and embrace change.

Since I was outsourced last year I have been doing what I can to bring in enough income to make ends meet - and so now I am full-time babysitter while his mom works. It does allow me to work on getting my website marketed and profitable, but whoever said babies just sleep, eat and poop have not been around a baby in a while - if ever!

The ideal situation is for your children to grow up, move away and have their families in their own homes. Visiting grandparents is supposed to be a time when children get spoiled, and grandparents are treasured as a fun place to go - sometimes. When the grandparent is also in the same house that makes them a disciplinarian as well as a comfort, and puts a whole new spin on the relationship.

I loved to visit the one grandmother we had by the time I was born. She moved from the midwest to Albuquerque when I was still a toddler, and so going to visit grandma was a vacation.

My grandmother loved to bake, something my mother did not do, so going to grandma's was really special. Add the change in atmosphere from four season northern Indiana to warm Albuquerque, the mountains and the southwestern colors and it was an adventure.

I always wanted my home to be an adventure to my grandchildren as well. I still have one granddaughter living in Lansing who comes to our house a few times a year and gets a change of pace, but for this little boy it will not be the same. I will have to be creative, and think of ways to allow him to experience a little of that charm.

Hopefully the situation will rectify itself soon, and his mother will get a better job. Then grandma's house will be an adventure for him too.