Babysitting Grandchildren

Rick and I had the pleasure of baby-sitting our youngest grandson for a day recently.  He arrived at 8:30 a.m. and went home at 6:30 p.m.  He was on the move almost every minute he spent with us.  He loves climbing the bunk bed ladder and being lifted down.  He loves opening and closing doors, hiding in closets and exploring every nook and cranny he can find.  He loves to hang out in Sarge’s kennel.  He also loves to take toys out of the toy box and books off the shelves. (It will be a while before he learns the concept of “clean as you go”.)  

It was a nice day and played in the back yard.  Sarge (our eight month old 85 pound German Shepherd) wanted to chase the ball.  Our grandson wanted to taste findings.   I pitched the ball with one hand and extracted acorns with the other.  “Go, Sarge!  Acorn.  Yucky.”  Good thing, our grandson did not discover the treasure pit where I have buried all kinds of things for our other grandsons to dig up (glass “jewels”, dinosaur bones, coins).  I thought a walk would be fun until he had to be carried home.

We had already been warned that our grandson has suddenly become picky about what he eats.  He’d had a waffle for breakfast before arriving, and skipped lunch.  After much experimentation, dinner ended up being a banana and scrambled eggs with cheese. 

After a l-o-n-g bath and much splashing, he did more running, more stair climbing, more exploring.

As the sun set, our grandson started to slow down.  Sarge was already comatose on his comfy mat.  Our grandson joined him, not to rest, but to prod Sarge awake with his own tail.  Sarge got in his licks in (so much for the bath) and then decided to find a quieter place to nap.

Finally, our grandson walked over to me, arms out-stretched and wanted to be held.  Talk about melting a granny’s heart.  I rocked him.  Rick chuckled as he watched him try to keep his eyes open.  It took about three minutes and our grandson was out cold.   We made a bed for him on the couch and just admired God’s handiwork. 

Grandchildren are a blessing.  They bring a fresh perspective on life.  Everything is new, wonderful, exciting.  They melt our hearts with love.

They’re also great for a good cardio-vascular work-out!