GROWING PAINS: GROWN CHILDREN MOVING BACK HOME, WITH THEIR CHILDREN...

As a grandparent having your grown children, with your grandchildren in tow, move back home, is like a rebirth of your own life, altho given a choice I'm quite certain that this isn't the part of life that most of us would choose to be reborn. I'd like to have a rebirth of my "B.C" years, "before children." Grown children moving home with their children comes in a close second tho. (Insert sarcasm here...)

The move-in was seamless. Beds were moved, rooms rearranged, boxes in and to the basement, laundry in and to the laundry room. All was right with the world and stayed that way for about.... One whole day. Boy did I have alot to learn!

Eventually you get used to a 2 yr. old bursting into your room in the mornings, jumping on your back (stomach, legs, arms, head) shouting at the top of his lungs, "MiMi, wake up MiMi, I'm hungry!" Now I even look forward to it and if it doesn't happen? Well of course I go "in search of" to find out why it hasn't. Talk about chasing the snake that bites you... What I don't think you get used to is stepping on Matchbox cars strewn about the hallway leading into the kitchen. I don't think you ever get used to that. Nor do you get used to setting a box of cereal on the counter, turning to the other cabinet to retrieve a bowl, only to hear, in the split second it took for you to reach over and open a cabinet, the swish of a box full of cereal spilling to the floor, followed by, "I sorry MiMi, I clean up." But I'm getting better.

What I do find comforting is that the core of who your children are, their spirit, the people you raised them to be, doesn't change much. The morals and values you instilled in them remain, as do most of the manners. You recognize your child as a good person, a person you not only love but also like. However... Just as the morals, values and manners remain, so does their absolute disregard for keeping a clean room, their inability to sort their laundry or rinse their dishes before putting them in the dishwasher - if they make it out of the kitchen sink! If they ever make it to the sink! - The wet bath towels remain on the floor in the bathroom and you feel a little silly reminding your son, a grown man with a child of his own, to pick up after himself, and yet, just as when he was younger, you do it anyway and the answer remains the same.... "Oh I forgot..."

The conversations are better. They've clearly expanded their horizons - to a degree - and you feel as tho you're actually having a conversation with a grown up. You're amazed at how much they know as young as they are and you wonder how and when they became so knowledgeable. You enjoy spending time with them and can't remember when you laughed so much. It makes you feel good, it warms you. You forget about the laundry and towels and unrinsed dishes and focus on how wonderful it is to have your grown child back "home" again.

You also forget what it is like to take a bath or shower alone and remember the selective hearing of your children... And despite the rather loud, announcement throughout the land, of your intent to jump in the shower or take a nice, hot, relaxing bath, somehow you find yourself running for cover under the bubbles and/or making a make shift robe out of your shower curtain because again, you find yourself at the mercy of a 2 yr. old little boy shouting, "Hi MiMi, whatchya' doin?!" I am certain I spoke loud enough for the citizens of China to hear, you think to yourself, how in the world did my GROWN son not hear me??? You discover of course, as in days of old, your GROWN son did not hear you because he was too busy battling his teenage brothers, who also have selective hearing, in.... Surprise.... A video game!

I don't know coined the phrase, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," but whoever it was must've had grown children who moved back home!

This is not exactly the fairy tale I had mapped out for my life. It's not exactly the way I had envisioned life in my 40's... The white sand, the ocean waves and the cabana boy bringing me endless fruity drinks, are all missing. However, this is my life and for all of it's ups and downs, I LOVE it and to be honest, I wouldn't change a thing.. Well, I almost wouldn't change a thing... The cabana boy with the fruity drinks? That would be nice....

This week I'm supervising potty training... Any suggestions?

Hhhmmm, now where is that boy with my drink?