My First Mother's Day as a Grandma - My Grandson's Story and Things I Have Learned
Posted: Thursday, May 07, 2009
by Lorrie Davids
This Sunday will be my first Mother's Day as a Grandma! It is also my grandson's 4 month birthday, my daughter's first Mother's Day and Parent/Child Dedication at our church. A day of "firsts"! I love "firsts". Have you noticed yet that "first" is really a weird looking word?
Sara's doctor's office takes walk-ins on Saturday morning and when the doors opened my kids were there. After affirmation from the doctor, they called us and asked to come by. We figured they were on their way home from the tournament and welcomed them for breakfast. After all the planning of how they would someday tell us we were going to be grandparents, all she could do was blurt out "I'm pregnant!" What an exciting day. As we visited, we realized my daughter was pregnant on Mother's Day; she just didn't know it yet! All I could do was thank God!
The months went by quickly, even for my daughter, and her labor was short. Little Zach swallowed meconium during his journey to our world and had to stay in NICU for about a week. He was treated for a slight infection and they monitored his breathing. He used a feeding tube for a couple days until his respirations were normal. Our little guy seemed so fragile hooked up to all the machines that beeped and whirred. We were assured he was healthy – the docs said he was mainly there for maintenance.
In the four months since my grandson has been born, I have learned some things.
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I now realize why women in their 50s don't have babies. Seriously. While I totally love the time he is with me, I am thankful that he goes home.
- It is impossible to give my grandson just one kiss. It turns into mwk,mwk,mwk,mwk,mwk,mwk,mwk! And never fewer than seven. Yep, OCD comes out a little and I count them.
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Being a grandparent is way more fun than being a parent.
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I am one of those grandparents. You know the kind…the ones who have a ton of pictures and stories about their wonderful grandchild and make funny faces and sounds to entertain their precious gift from God. Yeah…didn't see that one coming.
Most importantly, I have a fervent desire to teach him about his Creator. Each time I see him I tell him "God loves you, Jesus loves you, the Holy Spirit loves you and Grandma loves you!" It is important that he grows up knowing this. When he is in his teens, I will still be telling him this. I am grateful to my friend and mentor for teaching me how to sum up all I want to tell him in a short, easy way he will understand as he grows a little older. I pray for him to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus at a young age. I pray for his choices as he grows. I pray Col. 1:9-12 for my whole family, including my grandson. I pray for his future spouse. I pray for my grandson's children. I spend more time praying and trusting God than ever before.
It really is different with grandkids. People told me, but I didn't believe them. How could one little guy make such a difference in my life? But, he does. I'm in the Grandma Club! I am blessed!
I loved reading your article Lorrie. I could feel your joy at being a Grandmother. I'm so happy your daughter and her husband were blessed with a baby. I have written an article called It Takes a Village to Raise a Child, and it speaks about women without children, Mother's Day must be difficult for them. You will be celebrating not only being a mom this Mother's Day but a Grandmother too! I look forward to experiencing what you are at the moment. Enjoy Lorrie! Congratulations to your family.Brianna, Yes! Joy is the right word! Thanks for reading and commenting. I have read your article, but still need to leave a comment. I'm glad you enjoyed my ramblings.
Boy, does this article bring back memories! Just loved it! Congrats. Many, many wonderful times ahead. And there are so many great resources for teaching really young children about God. Our 2 year olds now end their meal time prayer with, "Amen," followed by, "Yay, God!" I don't know how that started, but I get teary up every time they say it.Thanks for reading and your comment, Grammy. You are so right, there is a lot of material out there. I can just hear the "Amen" and "Yay, God!". That is precious! I'm looking forward to each stage of my grandson's life...and each new stage that it takes me through.
You are so right. Being a grandparent is something amazing and way more fun than being "just" a parent!I am so glad things worked out the way they did.God Bless you and yours, Grandma!!Thanks, Ken. I appreciate you took the time to read and comment. Yeah, I think I like my new title. And each time he smiles or pouts or blows bubbles or cries or tries to talk...well, I could go on and on... I just melt!Tell me about it! My Lilly is 4 and she called me yesterday, "Grandpa, I like my picture of your m-m-motorcycle. Wild Hogs!"Talk about melting!!
hi lorrie,do i have to drag out the comment on how you and danny were going to love being grandparents:) it's so cool. you are holding and kissing and hugging a child of your child, kind of surreal. playtime is however long you want it to be, and you can take a nap afterwards, where mom and dad can't, just like you once couldn't. pretty weird concepts, but true, nonethesless.enjoy your grandson, as i know you do every moment,my best regards,sueYeah, Sue, I know... We went on a date today - stopped at Target for something and of course HAD to look around in the infant department. The result? Zach now has a new pair of swim trunks in his grandpa's favorite color! What fun! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Good article Lorrie,It reminded me of just a few years ago when I became a grandma. Now, I have three beautiful grandson's. My favorite sont to sing to them would be, "Jesus love me."I also agree that being a grandparent is more fun than being a parent.Blessings always,MichelleMichelle, thanks for taking the time to read and comment. We are involved in music ministry so our little guy can't get away from music. We sing songs we have made up and rewrite and add to others. I made up another verse to Jesus Loves Me, just for Zach. I think he even likes it. His parents will make sure he plays sports...we will make sure he learns music. He loves musical toys the best, so far...or maybe it is the hand motions "he" does (or we do ;-) ).
Lorrie, welcome to my world, only I have 3 grandson's and they are, to say the least, a blessing. I had a fourth one, but unfortunately he died of respiratory problems that led to heart failure, and we lost him at 4 years old....but he is in good hands now, and the others are a God send.....enjoy your grandson, especially on this day of Mothers Day, we can also call it GrandMOTHERS DAY.....how's that?? Your fan, and friend in pen....Gary....Happy mothers day to you.Yes, Gary, a blessing! I'm sorry to hear that one of your grandkids is not with you anymore. That would be a very hard thing to handle.
Grandmother's Day...I like that.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate it.
Hey Lorrie! You are a brave woman to admit you are a grandma. Just joking with you, I can see how proud you are of that fact and I'm so happy for you right now. I kid about my little brood of children being little pains in the butt, but I'd absolutely die without them and love to hear of mothers...and grandmothers, who talk so colorfully and passionately about their children. Thanks for sharing the wonderful article with us all.Thanks, Myla! Right now I can't imagine him being anything but delightful...but, that will pass! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I am glad to see you back here. I have missed you and hope you are on your way to better times.
