Muddy Puddles

Muddy Puddles

I often find myself embracing the tremendous blessing that is grandmotherhood. I remember friend after friend and relative after relative trying, to no avail, to describe the amazing inexplicable, overwhelming feeling of love that one feels for their grandchildren, differing ever so slightly from what we feel for our children. In all honesty, until I became a grandmother myself, it was difficult to comprehend and equally thorny to believe that it was possible to feel love, equal or superior in measure to what I felt for my own children. Unfair it is to call it superior I suppose (wow that sounded like Yoda) but I can only describe it as the same love on steroids. Only a grandparent will likely understand what I’m trying to explain.

I had Khloe and her stroller all geared up for our almost-daily trip to the park only to walk

outside and find the rain had started, you know, the one that preceded the crazy thunderstorms that sparked the confirmation that the EBS is alive and well today. So we stayed indoors, settling instead for a stroll on the elliptical accompanied by the rare treat of a Simpsons episode as Khloe did her ‘homework’.

Once the weather cleared up, Khloe and I headed to Target because we suddenly realized we desperately needed a Nightmare Before Christmas DVD. Walking through the puddle-filled parking lot, Khloe jumped, both-feet-in, ah-la Peppa Pig, and splattered water all over her clothes and mine. I laughed and found myself looking for puddles all the way in and out of the store tonight and made sure Khloe jumped and made a splash in each one we ran into.

Almost immediately I remembered a different life, when my own children were growing up, and how I might not have necessarily had the patience to laugh at rain-puddle-soaked clothes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the view from this side of parenthood, the one I describe as post-piano auditions, soccer and baseball games, guitar and saxophone lessons is quite a different view. Driving my children to school, volunteer and extracurricular activities accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles on our cars, however those very miles afforded me the opportunity to really get to know my kids, to discuss all the disappointments and accomplishments, the drama and crushes, to teach them compassion for homelessness, children in shelters and the elderly and almost as important, the significance of classic rock. I realized that I truly enjoyed my kids growing up, spent as much time with them as was humanly possible, really got the most out of motherhood and thank God every day for having been afforded the opportunity to do that. Having said that, I wish I’d had more patience while they were growing up.

Khloe continues to teach me every day and in today’s lesson I learned to, as often as possible, jump in muddy puddles!