When I was raising my children, there were times I thought that I would give just about anything to have a little peace, an hour without fighting and maybe just ten minutes without someone tattling on someone else.
For those who don't know, I will be opening my own business within a couple of weeks (stay tuned for updates!) I have been home for four months working on my master plan and am happy to say that it has come together nicely. But, I have not been home alone, nor have I had any peace and quiet.
My adorable daughter Shyloh has gone back to school to study Cosmetology and Esthetics. She is doing wonderfully (carrying a 4.0 for the first time in her life!) and is three months ahead of schedule. But school doesn't pay very well - so she had a dilema about paying for child care for her three kids. That seemed to be a match made in heaven as they say - I would be taking some time off to go in another direction, she needed full time daycare. Mom (grandma) to the rescue!
Since she lives a good distance from me, we decided that I would pick the kids up on Tuesday morning and drop them back off on Friday evening. Yes, it is what you are thinking - I have become a full time "mom" again but in grandma clothes (ok, sweats). The kids and I have had so much fun together doing things like - walking to the neighborhood park, having outdoor meals when the weather allowed, observing Earth Day, planting flowers and grandma's vegetable garden, learning new songs and crafts, cooking every meal together, baking, making play dough, assembling picture albums, field trips, reading chapter books and decorating a new play room. I was always a working mother, so this was my first experience to have kids full time. It has been so much fun and I am forever thankful that I have had the opportunity to do it.
The first three weeks I had the kids, I spent each Saturday just lounging around. Lounging might be a slight exaggeration, the truth is, I dropped like I'd been tackled. A shower and a quick drying of my hair was all I had the energy to do. I like to think of myself as a pretty energetic and spry grandma, but after chasing kids all week, I was exhausted. (Nagging little thought - is it possible that I'm not the sassy pants I thought I was??) But we all got used to our schedule and our time together is something I'll never forget and hope they don't either.
Now that I'm getting ready to open my own doors for business, I'm down to the last two weeks of watching the kids. You may recall that this week we went South for a graduation and I came home sick so Shyloh had to find alternative care for the rest of the week. For the last two days, I've spent a lot of time sleeping, making last minute plans, bouncing around on FB and creating a blog. In the background, there is the occassional beep of a text message coming in and the constant drone of my best friends Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Guy Fierri and others from the Cooking Network. But there are no sweet voices asking for a popsicle or if we can watch Spongebob. There is no tiny voice saying "I Love You Grandma - to the moon". As I wander from my bedroom to the living room and back again, I don't step on one toy truck, Star Trooper or Cinderella slipper. My whole bed is mine to sleep in without a foot or elbow to the face during the night. Yes, EVERYONE sleeps with grandma - nobody sleeps in the kids room. That is why I have a California King bed; it can comfortably fit me, a 2, 4, 5, 6 and 12 year old as long as nobody moves around too much!
I am looking forward to next week when the kids come back for the last full week. After that, they will go to a regular baby sitter and I will be moving on to my new adventure. My house will be spotlessly clean all the time, there will be so much quiet that it will be deafening. I'm going to miss the adventure and it makes me realize that we should be careful what we wish for - it almost always comes true. I'm not sure peace and quiet is really what I wanted afterall! In the meantime, I'm going to drum up a lot of fun activities for us to celebrate our time together next week.
How fun is my world? I'm the luckiest lady on the planet; simple life, simple joys, extreme happiness! I wish the same for everyone. May I suggest sculpting with play dough - very soothing! Almost as soothing as a massage - no, I take that back. Play with dough AND book a massage.
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