GRANDPARENTS FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

Yesterday I told you something about how I was completely out of my element of expertise. Well today is another story.

I had gone through the baby stages, children raising and now it was our turn to just enjoy our new grandson.

You heard the statement, if I knew it was going to be this much fun, we would have had grandchildren first. This statement has a lot of truth in it, since we have all the "fun" but very little of the responsibility and day to day work.

It was in July that Jamie was born and in about 6 weeks they were heading off to Virginia for his first teaching position at Virginia Tech. Jim still had his dissertation to write and not quite could have Dr. as a title, but was well on the way.

This certainly left little time to spoil our grandson (not that we would want to do that, you understand).

I spoke about Jamie in the article entitled "Canadian Rockies". He was 12 years old then, but I want to tell you a little about him when he was younger.

Of course, we thought he was quite handsome and the smartest young lad around. Now if you don't believe me, just go and ask any new grandparent who is the cutest and smartest. They would always say that their own was the smartest. We were no exception to the rule! So we named him "Our VIB" (Very Important Boy). Later it has become "Our Very Important Young Man".

They came home for Christmas and we thought he was just priceless, but it was all I could muster up from crying the day they took him 600 miles away again. They left a little blanket on the floor of our living room and when I saw it I nearly burst out crying, knowing that I wouldn't see him for 5-6 months. I had gone to work before they left that day.

I remember when he was about 11-12 months old we were popping popcorn and there he was keeping time on all four's to the popcorn popping. How cute is that!

When Jamie was about 2 years old, Jim and Carol came home for a month to finish writing his dissertation. They had 2 children under two by this time, so I mentioned that we could toilet train Jamie and this would help a lot. Jim wasn't all that hipped up about it, but my sister and husband was there as well as all of us to praise him when he had success. He was so proud to show us his accomplishment and I told him to save everything and when I came home from work at lunch I would do a little dance for him. He did and I did a little "war dance" around the potty. What we grandparents won't do for our grandchildren!!!!! He made a total "fool" out of me right there for sure. You know he was toilet trained within the week! I told you he was a smart little boy.

When he was about 4 years old we had gone to a park for a picnic on the 4Th of July. After the picnic yet that evening we were going to see the fireworks. It started raining. He was riding in the car with us in the front seat and he said to us as he was shaking his little head, "I just don't understand it!! Why would God send rain when He KNOWS we want to go and see the fireworks this evening". He was completely baffled and confounded in his mind about this. I tried to explain to him that though we wanted it not to rain, farmers were praying that it would rain so their crops would grow. That God had to decide which was the most important. The way it turned out, it rained and pleased the farmers and it stopped raining just in time for us to see the fireworks! He would have been quite a disappointed little boy that day, otherwise.

Jamie was quite a soccer player and we would go to see him do his thing when the games were played.

Well this little boy went on and now is married to his childhood sweetheart and best friend. They went to private school together from 2nd grade through high school. Both went to college and lived at home. They married the summer they both graduated from College. We love his wife so much. (I spoke about her in the article "Hostess with the mostest". They have blessed us with a sweet little great granddaughter that is almost four years old already. Our pet name for her is "Dollbaby".

Wisdom--Grandchildren is the reward for growing older!