The inevitable has happened. My children have taken their children and themselves back to their homes, their beds, their schedules. How comforting their own pillows will feel tonight.
I know and understand all this but it is still hard to make the shift from the sounds of active exuberance to the quiet stillness that two older adults live in. I much prefer the squeals of delight when, playing hide and seek with grandkids, they find the hidden grandparents. Or, when we had a parade, around and around the kitchen island, banging pots and pans. Or, the goofiness that only two and three-year olds can produce or appreciate.
Having your grandchildren visit gives you the excuse to bring your inner child back out. If I slid down the hill, in my yard, on a plastic saucer at any other time, my neighbors' tongues would wag forever, but, in the company of my grandsons, it seems perfectly natural. If my SO and I made the faces and sounds that make Princess Leia smile and laugh, we'd likely be committed to a facility where all the walls are padded and the residents smile continually.
Mornings are special because the little people usually appear before their parents. Little feet come scampering up the stairs from the lower level, little hands often clutching a favorite stuffed animal, and the little faces almost always have big smiles on them. Sleepy parents then get a little more time to rest and relax before making their appearance.
Lastly, I realize what truly priceless times they are when my children, their families, and my SO and I are together......for any amount of time. I feel like the brood hen who gathers her peeps under her wings for protection. The urge to parent, protect, and provide never leaves. Oh, it may be dormant or subdued, but the parenting instinct is forever, I believe. Once you have children, your DNA is permanently changed - the parenting chromosome is genetically attached and sealed, to be altered only at the end of a parent's life.
Although my peeps are gone now, this old brood hen will go scratch the ground, rebuild her nest, and forage for vittles in order to be ready for the next peeps visit.
I hope all of you had a good visit with your peeps.
Ancora imparo
