GrandParenting (the greatest gig ever!)

Becoming a father was a great experience, but it has its drawbacks. Don’t get me wrong I love it, and wouldn’t trade it for anything, but it’s the worrying about your children. Those of you who are parents know what I’m talking about. You worry if you’re doing a good job as a parent. You worry about how well they’ll do in school. You worry if they’ll grow up to be productive citizens. Even when they’re grown and out of the house you still worry. You worry if they’ll have a decent career. You worry if they’ll meet that special someone, as you have which led to being a parent in the first place. Then you worry if they’ll have children of their own. Well for us at least that last worry is over with for one of our boys.

As I stated earlier, I wouldn’t trade being a parent for anything, but being a Granddad is awesome! We don’t get to go visit the little guy as often as we’d like, but every time we do it’s great! There’s nothing like seeing the eyes of your grandchild light up when he sees you coming. Then there’s the total attention that you get when you talk to him, and of course the giggle-laugh when he gets tickled by something that you say or do. Yep, you just can’t beat that feeling of having someone so special treat you as if you’re the most incredible person on earth. That’s what a Granddad is! Ok lightning, Grandma is a pretty awesome job too!

That reminds me, when we heard that our son (well his wife actually) was expecting my wife asked me if I was going to be a “Good Grandpa”. I replied “well yes, what else could I be?”. To which she replied (without a smile on her face) “You know what I mean are you going to be a Good Grandpa like my Grandpa was to me and like your Dad has been!?”. I replied “Yes of course I will, but I’m going to have fun with them you know mess with their minds a little!” Then I got the look! “Ok, ok I’ll be a good Granddad!”

I do look forward to going fishing, hiking, and sitting around a camp fire (or even the fireplace) and just simply being Granddad. Then when Grandma goes to sleep, and it’s just my little buddy and me sitting by the fire, I’ll tell him about how I invented TV, or the time that I drove my motorcycle across the surface of the moon, or that time that I received a US patent for discovering how to make a non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent with non-chlorinated fabric safe bleach, and then there was that time when……..