Grandparents Age Differently

Grandparents age differently. There’s no science behind that statement, just my belief.  My wife and I have 7 grandchildren, 4 boys and 3 girls. 

The 4 boys live in Jacksonville, and we see them a lot. The oldest is 8 years old and the youngest is 18 months old. We’ve seen all of them grow up from little baby boys to a gang of four. 

We’ve held them when they couldn’t walk and guided them when they learned to crawl. We made our adult home, child-proof. They all learned how to ride bikes on the same bike, and they have their own room, clothes, and toys. 

When they’re all here it can be a mad house but it’s a blessing.  We’ve spanked those butts too. 

Enjoying these children (the girls are included) is different as a grandparent which is why I’m going to share with you why I believe grandparents age differently.

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These aren’t our children. They are mini versions of our children who are versions of us. We see the boys most weekends and it’s so much fun, but I find myself just looking at them sometimes when they play, eat, or are asleep. 

They come to our house wearing a specific size shoe and the next week, the shoe no longer fits. We bathe them and dry them in the Batman and Paw Patrol towels we bought our first grandsons. We recently bought 2 new Batman towels. Two of our grandsons are upgrading from car seats to booster seats. We’re watching their personalities develop and preparing for the next school year when our oldest grandson will be in 3rd grade, the second oldest will be in 1st grade and the next oldest will be in kindergarten. 

All of this causes grandparents to age mentally. As the grandkids grow older, the truth about aging becomes more real to me. 

I’m aware I’m aging but I’m aging differently because I see the mini versions of our children getting older.  I remember the day when I saw my oldest grandson standing in front of the stove and it hit me that “just yesterday” he couldn’t see the top of the stove. It seems as if “two hours ago”, the 18-month-old was crawling, and just now while running in the yard with the soon-to-be kindergartener, I fell down, and I couldn’t get up! 

The thing is they are getting older which means I’m getting significantly older. Mentally that can be a lot to deal with. As I look ahead and think about the things, I want to see them accomplish, I look at my clock and it tells me I’m going to be 64 years old in July. 

This is where the mental aging begins. 

So, if he’s 8 years old now, he’ll be 18 in 10 years which will make me 74 years old. Yikes…. When the youngest is 18 years old, I’ll be 82 years old. 

Oh boy.

What do I need to do so I can at least be around for that?  Good question.

There are days I feel every bit of 63 and then there are days I feel really good. I’m trying to do everything I can to age well physically and mentally, as an almost 64-year-old man, but there are 3 things I know; God has a plan, nothing I do will change that, and death will not be denied. 

So, I’m aging differently. I tend to forget things more now, and as much as I hate it, I pop those blood pressure pills every morning. I’m doing a lot to stay young and healthy because some days my body and my mind ache. I work out so I can keep up with these bundles of energy. 

Sometimes it seems pointless. These thoughts make me sad. 

As the grandkids get older their interests change. They are able to do things for themselves and don’t need Pops and Grandma. They enjoy us but spend more time playing with the neighborhood kids and each other. They ride their bikes, play hide-n-seek, and army with toy guns. We’re getting rid of baby clothes, toys, car seats and so many other things that indicated to me I’m aging differently. I didn’t feel this sense of loss when our children grew up. 

Getting rid of stuff usually makes me happy, but now it makes me pause and reflect on all the fun times we’ve shared, like when I forgot to strap one of the boys in their car seat. As I went around a corner, he flipped out of the car seat. 

Or the time I was unaware that due to a fall, one of my grandsons had a hairline fracture in his arm. I showed the oldest two grandsons how to climb a tree in our backyard. 

I’m not sure their parents appreciate that. 

There was that day I took one of them to the park and he was swinging on the swing set and let go and went flying off the swing. The times in the shower when I would suggest they play “soldiers” which meant no hot water. There are safe times like when I make them breakfast or dinner. So many fun times, hopefully with more to come. 

I’ll accept whatever amount of time God allows me with these grandkids but just know I’m aging differently. 

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