When Grandchildren Come to Visit

Day 7--When Grandchildren Come to Visit

When grandchildren come to visit,

things change, the landscape changes,
and the rules sometimes disappear.

We go swimming together at the Rec Center,
race down the water slides,
skid into the water, splashing most aside.

We do the river of water,
around,
and around,
and around,
and around again, 
stopping sometimes to rest,
other times just to splash water everywhere.

We eat so many things, from pork chops
to Oreos to French toast
sprinkled with powdered sugar,
which we never do when they are not here.

Bacon has been reintroduced on the menu
since the vegetarian ended his experimentation.

Often, the “boys— Malshipoos—come,
two cute, playful dogs who love to sit
on your lap or jump up and down
like excited children, which they have become,
or just look into your eyes,
wishing you would pet them and pay them
way more attention than they really need. 

Walks with boys are frequent
and often necessary appendages
to exercise and just getting out
for some air, sniffing around,
and marking their territory.

We even went to the park,
watched our grandson’s new fighting moves,
using his painted stick,
all notched and nicked from other battles
with trees, rocks, fences, and such.

Movies play a role, mostly cartoons
and Disney, sad and silly, morbid and ridiculous,
fantastically plain, whimsical, and poignant!

You watch grandchildren when they are tired,
earphones in their ears and them giggling
about something they are listening to.

It’s amazing going from fighting machine
to round and round in the lazy river of water
to earphones and a sedentary life on the sofa,
with the boys hunkered down in and around them.

But you take advantage
of those affordable moments
when they come, wishing
they would come more often,
especially with the rest of the grandchildren.

Let them bring the dogs.
Let them bring their toys.
Let them make all the noise they want.
Let them wear their earphones.
Let them play name that tune with Alexa.
Let them have their extra Oreo if they wish.
Let them make a mess around the house.

The time will come
when they will be too busy,
too involved in so many other things,
too nonchalant to care about aging grandparents.
For ours, we hope and pray
that will never happen
for we want them to come often
and be a part of our lives.