Another generation will join us soon and by the way I’m acting, you’d think I was the one giving birth. In anticipation of my first grand baby, I’ve been nesting more than a hen at Easter. I have cleaned out the garage, rearranged two offices and the guest room here at the house, and set up a nursery/playroom at the studio. I’ve picked up every twig in two yards and even ironed the clothes hanging in the laundry room. We’re bordering on ridiculous here. The next thing you know, I’ll be scrubbing the tile in the bathroom with a toothbrush.
My daughter Sage and her husband Alex are anxiously awaiting the birth of their Baby Girl. We are within the bulls eye — that two-week span before the actual due date — and what my friends have been telling me all along is so very true, and I haven’t even met the little one yet.
As I was sorting through my children’s baby things and arranging the nursery and playroom at the studio, I remembered planning for Sage’s and Charlie’s births. I wanted to be the best Mama I could possibly be — just like my Mama was. I felt a lot of pressure (in more ways than one!), and was scared out of my wits. A few days before Sage was due, I suddenly realized I did not know how to put on a cloth diaper (I was adamant about being all natural, right down to what touched my babies’ little bums). I called my mother in a straight panic. She arrived at my front door within minutes, deftly folded and pinned a diaper around a small pillow to illustrate the procedure, and gave me a big hug. “Don’t worry sugah,” she said with that beautiful smile of hers. “The little angels come with instructions — instructions that say ‘love me.'”
The late Blanche Freeman Avery
As I try patiently to await an event that I anticipate to be life-changing, the pressure is there once again — but it is not the same. Now the pressure is to be the “bestest and most funest” grand buddy I can be; because grandparents are supposed to be close to perfect you know. They are those very special folks who adore and love you, are thrilled at every thing you do, show you the wonders of the world, and tell you stories about all the special people who have gone before — those generations who made us what we are — those people who would light up like a beacon if they could hold and love the precious one…the precious one who is the new generation joining us soon.
Comments