I think my mom bought every baby outfit in the store, in every size and every color, when she found out she was going to have her first grandchild. I’m pretty sure she purchased every baby item on the planet to have as “backup” in case we forgot something when we popped in for a visit. She also baby-proofed her entire house and made sure she had a setup for changing, feeding, and sleeping as she patiently awaited her grandson’s first sleepover.
Apart from having her own babies, I would say that the anticipation of her first grandchild was one of the most exciting times in her life. I think it’s because she had already gone through the trenches of motherhood and endured all the sleepless nights. I think she was looking forward to enjoying all of the early stages all over again without so many mothering obligations calling her name at the same time.
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If there was a cough, cold, teething, or tummy ailment after he was born, she was at the drugstore finding us a fix and bringing it over within minutes. I think she remembered just how exhausting new motherhood can be. If there was a time I just needed to sit down instead of bending over after my C-section to change another diaper, I can remember her gladly saying, “I’ll change him!” like she was volunteering for the most wonderful cause in the world.
I think she rocked him until she could rock no more and carried his chubby little frame around until her arms fell asleep and so did he.
I’m certain every time she looked into his bright blue eyes and smelled his new baby smell her heart exploded with joy. From watching her set eyes on him for the first time, I think I got a glimpse of the look she had on her face when she saw me for the first time:
Pure joy, pure love, pure purpose.
Her original purpose fulfilled as a mother and her secondary purpose and new found God-given assignment as a grandmother. And it became her goal to love him and all of her subsequent grandchildren with a love that had been perfected and refined through raising her own children.
It became her mission to snuggle a little longer, laugh a little harder, spoil a little bit more, and let go of anything that was less than important than being in the presence of her sweet grandchildren.
I think the birth of her first grandchild was something surreal for her, something she had no idea she’d been missing or been waiting for her entire life. Becoming a grandma was a promotion of sorts.
You’ve raised your own little ones, and now it’s time to lavish all that love and experience on some more. I think if you asked her what she felt the first time he said “Grammie,” which became “Mammy” (and still is Mammy today), she couldn’t quite put it into words. I think for her it’s a joy unspeakable. It’s a love that’s indescribable.
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Her grandchildren really are a gift from God, and it’s apparent in her excitement when she sees them. It’s like she’s opening up a present for the first time all over again.
And, oh, how precious they are to her.
And, oh, how wonderful it is for them to know as they grow just how much joy they bring to the heart of their grandmother.
The joy of new grandchildren is a gift. Not only for the grandmother but also for her grandchildren. For they will grow up knowing they are deeply loved. That nothing they could ever say or do could separate them from the heart of their unconditionally loving grandmother. That sometimes when they feel they cannot confide in anyone else, they can confide in her. She is a place of comfort and security, a place of endless fun and memories.
She is a bucketful of joy for her grandchildren, and it spreads like wildfire when she’s with them.