This is what my mom taught the kids to do in our kiddie pool.

They stand on the end of the slide and jump as high and as far out as they can. Is this the same woman who made my sister and I wear head scarves almost constantly from 1974-1978…so that we would not get ear infections? Or the woman who considered buying my nephew a helmet so he would not hurt himself when he fell as a toddler? I guess when you turn 4 1/2 and get your “permanent bones” you can live it up a little.

My kids are lucky enough to have a full set of grandparents, 4 total. And they all spend alot of time together, so I have noticed a few things that are very grandparent- specific. All those funny coffee mugs and t-shirts were right, something changes when you become a grandparent. You start going to McDonalds once a week, even though you will not eat the food. You will fall asleep on the couch at 3pm, but fight for a preschoolers right to skip their nap. You don’t want to hear me or BAGD use the F-bomb, but you laugh when your granddaughter says the preschool equivalent (C-r-a-p or “what the heck!”).

I would say its not right, but I can see some things that changed for me when I became a parent, so I guess its all fair. I send Geetle to scurry around the house to get things I left in the basement or upstairs. I make Pookie pick up the dirty laundry under the bathroom counter and put it in the basket for me. I use my kids as an excuse to skip to the head of bathroom lines. I don’t mind packing snacks for them on a day of errands, because then I remember to pack one for me too.

So, I guess its all Ok in the end. Everyone moves up a rung on the ladder of life when a new generation is born. We all get to shed our old personas and start something new.