I spent a few days last week with our oldest daughter and her amazing son. I know there are many mothers out there whose children and grandchildren live far away. I am one of the fortunate few who have my family close enough to spend time with them on a fairly regular basis. Our little man is growing up so fast and his mom is growing with him.
Christine (our second child and oldest daughter) was born independent. She didn't love nursing nor sitting on laps cuddling. She was very much an "I can do it myself" girl right from the get-go. While this was sometimes challenging when she was little (and a little more challenging when she wasn't little") we wouldn't have had it any other way. She is who she is and her strength has stood her in good stead many times in her life. It wasn't a surprise when she left home soon after high school and began to travel the world.
When Christine became a mother our relationship began to change and grow as well. We see her and Kai (our grandson) often because this is the way she wants it. We feel so blessed that she makes a point of spending a few days with us when she can so that we know Kai and so that he knows us. We feel blessed that we live close enough to pop in there when she needs a hand or to just hang out with them when they have the time. It feels good when she asks us for help:)
As Kai grows Christine grows with him. They have such a great relationship and it's beautiful to watch them together. There is structure and there are rules, as there should be, but their relationship is mostly about fun and about exploring the wonder of the world around them. Kai is an explorer. He explores music, dance, sports, bugs, plants, rocks, animals, art, language, numbers and everything else in his world. He is a daredevil child full of energy. He never does anything half-heartedly. Christine (and her husband Marc) are proud of Kai and he knows it. While I don't know much of Marc as a child I see a lot of Christine in her little boy. He is strong and independent just like his mom. I have always been proud of Christine but I must say that my heart fills with love and pride even more when I see her with Kai. She is a great mom and I feel fortunate to be able to share the world of motherhood and grandmotherhood with her and Kai!
Awe, thanks Mom! I am teary reading this! You would have found it humorous tonight when he had paint all over his hands and wanted to wash them by himself. After getting acrylic paint on my fabric chair, I didn't want him to get it on the new while toilet (you know how important pristine toilets are...what?), so I was trying to help him up onto it. After about 4 attempts, and him wiggling out of my hands with the wail "I want to do it!", I finally just let him and low and behold, he wiggled up without his hands. A determined, obstinate little one...nothing at all like me!
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