Raising Your Grandchildren

I visit a lot of blogs and really enjoy reading other folks writing. Today we have a guest post written by John Lunn. John is raising his grandchildren and his blog is one of my favorites. Please welcome him to NanaHood and after you read his post, visit his site. It’s really cool! Teresa

First meet John….

My wife and I are raising three grandsons (and their father) along with 3 dogs, all under a not-so-large New Hampshire roof. After getting full custody a year ago, he couldn’t afford to raise them in anything but abject poverty so we had them all permanently move in here. Not that we could afford it, either. We cashed our retirement savings and built bedrooms in our cellar, put off retiring or having a vacation until we’re dead, and became one big messy multigenerational family. I work at home as a novelist and flutemaker/sculptor and have the closest relationship with the boys. That makes me primary caregiver and chief bottle washer. My wife is a canine behavior specialist at a regional animal shelter and our son sells shoes. Together we try and keep the lid on 3 wild and lovable boys.

Website: http://www.johnlunn.com

Blog: http:// grampyslittleacre.blogspot.com

You Know You’re Reparenting When…

As a grandfather I saw the kids most weeks all their lives and indulged them when I did. That’s the beauty part of taking them for a day and then going home. Your time is their time until you return to the sanity of your quiet life. For those of us who’s bubble got burst and the kids descended for keeps and you’re not sure if they’ll ever leave, here are some clues to help figure that out:

– The Yahtzee dice cup is full of milk at the dinner table.

– You haven’t seen the news on TV in weeks and know the name of the squirrel on Spongebob (Come on…you know who she is.).

– You can’t believe you’re arguing with a nine year old about staying up an extra 5 minutes.

– You start feeling guilty about spending money only on yourself.

– You’ve started a project in your “workshop”, that special getaway room in the cellar that you hadn’t seen the previous god knows how many years.

– That indistinguishable mass of faces you saw when picking your grandkids up at school are getting so familiar you’re starting saying hi.

– You realize while eating a half finished sandwich that it didn’t come from your plate.

– The name ‘grampy’ or ‘gramma’ doesn’t roll off their tongues with quite so much affection as it used to.

– While grooming, you work around the globs of toothpaste surrounding the bathroom sink instead of automatically cleaning them up.

– You can’t remember when there wasn’t a baby seat in your car.

– You automatically give the sofa a once over for foreign objects before sitting down.

– There’s a big stain on your shirt and you go to the store without changing, saying ‘Who cares?’

– You prefer hearing  “thank you, Grampy” and “Yes, Nana” to “I love you, Grandma.” (This is a close one but you know what I mean!)

If you are raising grandchildren I bet you can name some of your own…

Thanks John!  To all the grandparents who are helping raise grandchildren…May the good Lord bless you and keep you in His care!