Grandpas

Well, we have a new granddaughter.  Actually, she was “new” some nine months ago, but is just now making her appearance into the world.  She joins our other three grandkids in a family that relishes relationships, knows it takes a village, and cares passionately about each other.  I don’t know the other side of the family all that well, but suspect many of these same qualities could be attributed to them as well…so there’s no escaping for her.  She’ll be loved regardless!

It’s kind of a strange vocation, this job of being a grandpa.  Grandpas are not expected to be parents.  They’re supportive, non-judgmental, and even-keeled.  Yet, when called for, grandpas are to provide correction and training, perhaps of the kind that parents struggle with or for whatever reason cannot get through to the grandkid.

Grandpas love unconditionally.  Grandpas bring gifts and treats.  They have things in their pockets such as quarters for the trinket machines at the restaurant.  Grandpas do things, and allow the grandkids to do things that they normally wouldn’t be able to do (like not having to clean up one’s plate before ice cream treats, or allowing more jelly on a piece of toast than a parent would allow).  They act as a rudder when needed, and an oar when necessary.

Grandpas ferry grandkids to school, the doctor, or elsewhere when called on to do so.  They make pancakes and homemade syrup.  They tell about the olden days.  And they talk about people previously unknown, great aunts, cousins, and great grandfathers and mothers, who are in that child’s heritage.

Grandpas help their grandkids learn to ride a bicycle.  They give them a ride on the riding lawn mower, even when Mom doesn’t like it very much.  They mail letters to their grandkids addressed to “Master” or “Miss”.  They tickle (appropriately) and “get” ears, noses, and other assorted (appropriate) body parts.  They sing parts of old songs that they know only parts of, when it seems appropriate to do so (or even when it doesn’t seem so).  They say funny things, tell funny poems, and rhyme funny rhymes.

They read books 30, 40, or even 50 times and watch Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine, My Little Pony, and Bob the Builder enough times to know all of the plot lines (such as they are).  They play the Winnie the Pooh song & video on their Androids and take the grandkids to church, reinforcing parental teaching to be quiet and reverent.

Grandpas wash off the front porch and siding when the spiders make webs and the dirt blows in.  They bring over the Roundup and kill out the Bermuda grass that grows in the driveway cracks and flower beds.  They trim the tree in the back yard and clean out the cooling coils of the air conditioner unit.  And they wonder how they could get a sandbox in the back yard without Mom having a cow.

Grandpas support grandmas and enable them to ooo and aah, spoil the grandkids, buy them Easter outfits, Christmas presents, and birthday cakes, and generally have a great time being a grandma.

But most of all, grandpas support Mom and Dad…helping them to understand what love truly is, validating their authority and their decisions, and providing counsel when asked (and knowing when to provide it even when not asked).  Grandpas pray for the family, the kids, the school teachers, the other grandparents, and the kids’ friends.  And they’re just a little wistful that they probably will not be around to see the full maturity of these gifts from God, but nevertheless wouldn’t have it any other way.