Category: Grandparenting

Monday Mood: bursting

It started Thursday evening when we picked up our 10-year-old granddaughter for a dinner out. The conversation was lively and I learned so much about the world from her perspective.

Then Saturday, our oldest daughter announced she was playing her first ever hockey game, so we drove to the city to watch. I didn’t even know she could skate, and turns out neither did she. She faced her fear and did it anyway. So proud of her.

Yesterday, two of the kids dropped by to pick up some furniture, with the 4-year-old in tow, announcing she had come to play. We chatted over a snack, coloured princesses, read about princesses, had another snack, and shared lots of cuddles.

One of my goals in moving back to the city is to be closer to family. It’s already happening, and this Granny’s heart is bursting.

Grandma To The Rescue

September is
chilly mornings
and classroom routines,
cardigans dragged home,
and the onset of colds.

Grandma packs her bag
with activities to distract,
a soup to boost bodies
and an apple crisp
fresh from the oven.

Some days
the best education
comes snuggled under
warm blankets with
inter-generational love.

(For Ragtag Communty’s daily prompt: crisp.  Grandma duty calls, be back later!)

Advocate for Wonder

I know what infinity means:
it’s one hundred plus one.

Voice of innocence
serene her sense of self
of life’s complexities.

Should borrow from her,
embrace that confidence,
but worry intervenes.

How do we preserve
the wonder of youth,
save her from cynicism?

That it is! I reply,
my smile a warm hug –
vow to be forever advocate.

(I submit this poem, inspired by my six-year-old granddaughter, to three challenges:
Ragtag Community’s, serene;  Fandango’s advocate; and Reena’s Exploration challenge.  Image from personal collection.)

Love-In

Dreams big
this budding leader,
astral charts
painted on her walls,
thoughts always adventuring.

Eight summers
we’ve camped together
grown our minds
and spirit –
an inter-generational
love-in.

(It’s summer camp time at Grandma’s again.  Written for Ragtag Community’s prompt, astral, and Fandango’s, camp.)

Looking Back

Years when children,
perpetually in motion,
required a referee –
Mom’s energy replete

so ephemeral now –
time having vanished,
weariness lingering,
savouring memory blurs.

(Inspired by my grandchildren, and the prompts of Ragtag Community: ephemeral, and Fandango: referee. Image from personal collection.)

A Child Glows

Child,
delightful youth,
my heart’s jewel,
you are light-bearer,
hope for the future –

antics haphazard,
laughter contagious,
spreading joy,
sparking imagination –

I pray that your spirit
remains joyously vibrant,
that reality dawns gently –
does not spoil the radiance
of your glow.

(Written in honour of my granddaughters, for dVerse pub, where Lillian is hosting and a quadrille based on the prompt spoil is called for.  Also linking up with Ragtag Community – jewel, Fandango’s- haphazard, and Manic Mondays 3 Way Prompt – heart. )

All I Need

All I need is a pair of pink boots,
the audacity to wear my hair
as if no one is looking,
the nonchalance to wear skirts
even on the days I plan to climb,
to adopt a no-limits, thumbs-up
attitude and smile triumphant
as if my world is a bubble
of contentment, needs met,
and no worries about
tomorrow – then I’d be
on top of the world.