For many years Ken and I anticipated joining the ranks of that grand army of grandparents. Finally, with the birth of our first grandchild, Colleen, we were mobilised! We found, however, that there was a bit of basic training to undergo first.
For instance, the whole idea of disposable diapers was foreign to us. When I think of the hours I spent standing at my old wringer washer, I'm glad we didn't grow old together. Ken and I also had to get used to using those little wet clean-up cloths that pop out of a convenient dispenser - a neat idea. We soon adjusted to the plastic nursing bottles with those ghastly looking deflated liners.
Our first encounter with a jolly jumper was a great experience. What a marvelous invention. The baby can have great fun, at the same time exercising his or her leg muscles, and, better still, be within sight. Our own offspring were popped into a playpen and spent their time gazing at the world through bars.
Not many babies these days seem to have buggies or prams, but, instead, are carried about snuggled up to their parents' bodies in 'snugglies'. This contributes to a special bonding between parent and child which is important.
Most of the mothers in the 1950s fed baby and then out he went to the porch in his buggy for the prescribed four hours until the next feeding. The fresh air was healthy and certainly conducive to sleep. We mothers spent a good deal of time checking up on our precious bundles to see if they were still sleeping or to ensure that some large neighborhood cat had not decided to make itself comfortable and warm by sneaking into the confines of the pram. These days one would certainly hesitate to leave a baby unattended in case a kidnapper was about.
Remember how some people trustingly left their baby and buggy outside a store while they shopped? Today such a foolish act would be unthinkable.
In December 1986, when our first granddaughter was two years old, we volunteered to babysit for her for two weeks.
Our life suddenly changed. Being retired, Ken and I had settled into a casual routine as far as meals were concerned, Breakfast was consumed at the kitchen nook with chit-chat about events, plans for the day, etc. Lunch we shared with the cast of our favorite soap opera at the time, "All My Children". Dinner was usually washed down with the evening news, while comfortably seated in front of the television. When the dishes were done, we either read or watched t.v. (preferably PBS) unless we were entertaining friends or out for the evening.
All this nonsense came to an abrupt halt. One does not subject one's innocent grandchild to such depravity. a good example must be set. Meals must be properly consumed at a table and interspersed with 'pleases' and 'thank-yous'. And a certain little person had to be convinced that grandma's homemade soup tasted good and must be eaten before any dessert would appear.
Like most two year olds, Colleen was just beginning to assert herself. Having heard the word 'no' many times (!) she decided she would try it for herself.
We did our best to convince her that 'yes' was a much nicer word. We did not wish to undermine the efforts of her mommy and daddy and therefore did our best not to spoil her but found it quite a challenge to keep on top of each new situation as it arose.
I had forgotten what it was like to have one's concentration broken by a little voice calling out "I have to go tinkle". Flour had to be quickly rinsed off hands before we sped to the bathroom.
We had to come to terms with the complicated fastenings on the car safety seat, but after several trips to various friends to show off our little guest, we actually became quite adept.
We even had the precious gift of witnessing her first visit to Santa Claus. She was all primed and looking forward to meeting the whiskered gentleman, when much to our chagrin, the little fellow in front of her became very apprehensive and began to cry. This scene made her wonder if this Santa Claus business was all it was cracked up to be. Upon being reassured, she did agree to visit him, but only at a safe distance. None of this sitting on the knee stuff!
Bath time was stretched to the limit with fun and games in the tub. Then, naked, our little charge would run with freedom and delight down the hall to the living room where Ken and I made a great fuss of drying her down in front of a cosy fire. With her damp hair and cherubic silhouette she brought to life one of Paul Peel's famous paintings.
Then the challenge of the evening - bedtime - was upon us. We had forgtten just how much time we used to devote to this portion of the day, but it soon came back to us in full force. Dolls and stuffed animals had to be rounded up and placed either side of her pillow, not forgetting that most important of items - the security blanket!
Next was story time, swiftly followed by pleading for yet another story.
Jst as we figured we had everything under control and could sneak off and watch the last half of a National Geographic special, our little angel thought of yet another delaying tactic. A request for a drink of water was usually followed by the popular 'blow out the light' ceremony. It was difficult to understand how one little person could delay the inevitable, while by now, Ken and I were so looking forward to it!
We had a delightful and rewarding two weeks with this compact little bundle of energy. We enjoyed walks to the swings in the play park, hide and seek in the house, make believe picnics, and decorated Christmas cookies.
But most of all we enjoyed hugs and kisses when she crawled into our bed in the mornings.
We typed out a complete diary of her stay with us which we placed in a photo album together with pictures recording all her activities while she was with us. Something we hope she will treasure in the future.
The day Colleen left she put her arms around her grand-dad and said "Don't be sad Grampa" Little did she know we had mixed feelings! The house would seem very empty without our little princess, but it would be good to get back into our comfortable rut. As busy a time as that was, however, it was a walk in the park compared to the time we babysat the twins - but that deserves a post all of its own!
