THEY SAY

That what goes around comes around and I for one believe it. Take this morning for instance; I dropped Shaun off at camp at 8am. Today was his first day of camp and though he was excited about going to this camp when we arrived and entered the building, he got scared and started to cry.

I automatically went into "mother mode", the nurturer, the caretaker, the protector. I told him I would stay until he felt comfortable with his new surroundings and new friends. I also told him if he wanted to come home early, the teacher will call me and I will be right back to pick him up.

Crisis Averted.

Shaun is my "almost 6 year old" grandson but being at the camp this morning brought back memories of when I used to take my own children to camp and the fears they had about meeting new people. Even the most "outgoing and friendly" child is a little bit afraid of something new and unknown. Standing with Shaun at the camp this morning brought back all those feelings of having and raising small children and in my case "male" small children. It is funny how I find myself in that same exact position twenty years or more later.

Today, my son started a new job. Today, Nikolas started a daycare/daycamp program. He has had his father home the last two and a half years. My son became the primary caretaker of his two sons after the birth of Nikolas. By the time Nikolas was born, Shaun had started preschool. My daughter-in-law, Trish had a position in the banking industry and was currently made vice-president of her department. Both agreed that one parent should stay home until Nikolas reached preschool age and that is exactly what they did. Nikolas will be three years old in November.

When my son decided to go back to work (he is an electrician), I told him I would help with the dropping off and picking up of his children if he picked programs near where I live. Lucky for all of us, there were several good programs located in the area. Nikolas is attending a regular daycare program for his age group while Shaun is attending a regular daycamp. Both are in differeent locations but not too far away. Since Shaun will be attending first grade in the Fall, he did not need daycare but daycamp. Nikolas on the other hand required an all year round daycare program.

The only drawback to Shaun's program is there will be two weeks at the end of the summer where camp ends but school does not begin. I am sure I will help out as much as I can in those two weeks. Actually, I just had Shaun the last three nights here. He begged to stay and of course I agreed and since then I have had a fulltime "almost 6 year old" at my house and to say we have "spoiled him" would be an understatement. But along with the shopping trips, out for meals and movies, I did take him over to the library and had him pick out three books to read which he did and which we read. I told him that we will be taking weekly library trips to get books to read. I limit his video game access because if it were up to him he would play video games a good deal of the day. Time to love books as much as video games. As a lover of books myself, I cannot imagine any grandchild of mine not loving them (books) as much.

What goes around comes around. Like Shaun, I always enjoyed spending carefree days with my grandparents. There is something so special about the love of a grandparent that a grandchild flocks too. Some of my best memories as a child and even a teenager were in the home of my grandparents. I can still vividly remember the unconditional love they had bestowed on me and in all honestly I do not think I could ever do anything wrong in their eyes that would justify them taking that love away. To be loved like that is simply the most amazing experience.

I remember summer walks for ice cream cones and long evenings spent outside on the front steps. I remember being in the kitchen kneeling on the chair watching my grandmother roll dough to make pies and cakes. She always got a little flour on herself. I remember helping her wash clothes with an old wringer washer in the back shed that lead out into the backyard where she hung out the clothes to dry in the nice weather. If the weather was poor, she hung the clothes in the basement. I remember cuddling up on the sofa in the parlor (that is what she called it) with my grandfather as we watched the tiny screened black & white television set in that East Falls house on Ridge Avenue where not only my Gallagher grandparents lived but where my Schroeder great grandparents lived before them. The same house where my grandmother Marie Schroeder Weleski was laid out before her burial across the street at Laurel Hill cemetery. That house had so much history. So many memories.

Anyway, I am so very lucky that I have this close relationship with my grandchildren as I had with my own grandparents. Though it feels like a juggling act at times because I want to spend the same amount of time equally with all three, I know I tend to spend the most time with Shaun because he happens to be the eldest. He is also the one who does not wear diapers or throw temper tantrums.

I know. I know. Your day will come my sweet Nikolas and my precious Ava. Just remember this Mom Mom is not as young as she once was.