Why My Grandson Makes Me Feel Old... and Young at the Same Time

 

By Niki Gent

I had my grandson for the school holidays this week.

Not for a few hours.

Not for a sleepover.

For the first time...

Without Mum.

Now, I like to think I'm a pretty capable person. I run a business, work with families every day, manage staff, write reports, solve problems and somehow keep all the balls in the air.

So naturally, I thought, "How hard can this be?"

Apparently... quite hard.

I discovered that little boys have two speeds.

Fast.

And asleep.

There doesn't appear to be an "in-between."

Within ten minutes we'd read 3 books, negotiated over snacks, found three cars and somehow I'd already said, "Please don't climb on that," at least seventeen times.

I honestly don't remember my own children having this much energy.

I'm sure they did.

I've probably just blocked it out.

At one point, I stood up from the floor after playing cars for what felt like three days but was apparently only twenty-five minutes.

Every joint in my body made a noise.

Apparently, I now make sound effects when I stand up.

Who knew?

But somewhere between the endless questions...

The requests for "just one more game"...

The random hugs...

The sticky fingerprints...

The laughter...

And the complete inability to walk anywhere normally because apparently we had to stomp like bears and touch everything on the way.

Something hit me.

This little person has absolutely no idea what my job title is.

He doesn't care how many meetings I've had.

He has no interest in whether I've answered my emails.

He certainly isn't impressed by my qualifications.

To him...

I'm simply Grandma.

The one who reads the story with funny voices.

The one who somehow knows where the missing piece is.

The one who always says yes to another cuddle.

Children have this incredible ability to pull us into the moment.

Adults spend so much of our lives worrying about tomorrow.

Children worry about whether the blue dinosaur should drive the fire truck.

Honestly...

They're probably onto something.

Of course, by the end of the holidays I needed a decent cup of tea, an early night and perhaps a small recovery period.

I also realised I'm definitely at the age where getting down on the floor isn't the problem.

Getting back up is.

But I'd do it all again tomorrow.

Because grandchildren have this extraordinary way of making you feel old and young at exactly the same time.

Old enough to wonder why your knees hurt after crawling through a blanket fort.

Young enough to forget about it because you're too busy pretending to be a pirate.

Old enough to know how quickly childhood passes.

Young enough to still see magic in reading the same book again and again.  

As someone who works with children and families every day, I often talk about the importance of connection.

This week reminded me that connection isn't complicated.

It isn't expensive.

It doesn't require perfect parenting or perfect grandparents.

Sometimes it's simply sitting on the floor.

Playing.

Laughing.

Listening to stories that make absolutely no sense.

And being fully present.

Those are the moments children remember.

And if we're lucky...

They're the moments that keep us young.

Even if we do sound like Serena Williams every time we stand up.