A major contributor to my happiness in general, and certainly on this vacation, is the fact that the Big Man’s parents, and my parents, are all super-hands-on grandparents.
All of them are such naturally helpful grandparent types that it took me a while to appreciate how lucky I was. Wasn’t everyone thrilled to be a grandparent?
Thrilled, usually. Eager to help, not as common.
One friend told me that after her son was born, she asked her mother-in-law if she’d be willing to babysit. “Well, I suppose so…” her mother-in-law replied. “As long as you don’t leave.”
But in my case, both grandmothers are the take-charge type, in the nicest possible way. My mother came and stayed for weeks when the Big Girl and the Little Girl were born. My mother-in-law loves to take one or both girls for hours at a time.
The two grandfathers work more on the entertainment and “let’s-get-some-ice-cream” side of child care, less on the diaper-changing side, but they’re also both very enthusiastic.
This is one of those facts of life that is so easy to take for granted. Our vacation would be a lot less relaxing for the Big Man and me if his parents weren’t spelling us with the girls.
Right this minute, as I type, the Big Girl is off eating lunch with her grandparents while I stay with the napping Little Girl. An eight-year-old isn’t a particularly challenging lunch companion, but they were just as willing to take her when she was two.
I crave gold stars for myself, but how often do I tell the grandparents what a huge help they are? I resolve to tell them all, today.
