Grandparents, a Faire, and a Concert (Oh, My!)

My family experienced a wonderfully full weekend.  It was one of those weekends where every event we shared was a blast for my son.  I'd say that it was almost the best weekend ever for the little guy.  But, whew, I am sure wiped out!  The boy and I have a busy week ahead with lots of fun activities with our friends so I'm going to have to keep this brief so I can get some rest.

We had supper with my parents and my MIL on Saturday evening.  After eating, he had the undivided attention of his grandparents.  It is a pretty rare treat for my son to have more than two grandparents together at once and he knew how to work his adoring audience.  He was in rare form and he spent a the longest time just cutting up and entertaining the family. 

His Mamaw and his Grandma had so much fun hiding his matchbox cars (specifically the green one!) for him to find.  The hiding places were a hoot:  on top of their head, in the crook of an elbow, tucked into a shoe, under a cushion in the couch, and so many more!  His face lit up with delight whenever he found one and his excited squeals kept the game going on for at least a half an hour. 

At one point, my son started dancing with joy and his Grandpa began to clap for him.  Then Mamaw started clapping.  Then Grandma.  Then Daddy.  Then Mama.  Whenever one of us would stop clapping, he'd stop dancing and point at us.  He'd grab our hands and force us to clap again if we didn't start clapping right away.

I was cracking up so much that my cheeks hurt by the time we left.  I think the little one spent half the night laughing himself silly.  As my Dad says, that kid has the most contagious laugh.  Saturday night was one of those magical moments that you long to share with your loved ones and I'm thankful that we were able to share my adorable little guy with at least three of his Grandparents. 

My church hosted a Medieval Faire this afternoon after services.  In case someone reading this can't understand normal thinking, the use of the pronoun "my" in the previous sentence does not imply that I am the sole owner of the church; it is simply to illustrate that it is the church that I personally attend.  I'll probably give another English lesson in a few days - see you next Tuesday.  

I thought for sure that my son would want to eat and play at the Faire.  No.  Not only no, but no way!  There was a mini-catapult, pretend archery, pretend swordplay, pretend jousting and a bounce house.  There was a great photo prop of a sword in a stone.  There was a woman doing wonderful caricatures and another woman making balloon animals and balloon crowns.  They offered chicken and beef skewers, grilled corn, hot dog wieners, pasta salad, potato salad and many more tasty eats.  The children of our church baked up wonderful sweet treats that were also available for purchase.  My son did enjoy eating a frosted cupcake and he must have liked it because he begged for cupcakes before bed tonight. 

What did he want to do at the Faire?  Sit in the bounce house.  He wouldn't jump around and he literally sat in there for about an hour.  He was having fun though and he was pretty upset when it was time to go home.

The city I reside in offers free concerts in the park on select Sundays.  Tonight was the last concert of the season and we went with some friends and their kids.  The band played classic rock covers.  The playlist consisted of great songs from CCR, The Eagles, The Hollies, Deep Purple, and a few others.  Several times, my son jumped up and danced for us.  He really has a joy of movement.  I made some strawberry shortcakes to share with our pals and he gobbled that up like it was the finest creme brulee.  His father took him to the playground to run around and play with the other kids at the park.

Not that they live all that far away, but I'm a little sad that family isn't a little closer to us geographically. It would have been fun to turn this into a Grandparent's Weekend. I'll bet they would have had a blast seeing their sweet little grandson today.

I really have to do a better job inviting the Grandparents to come along on our fun adventures. Sometimes life only hangs by the thinnest of threads and I believe that persistent prayer is the only reason that my son still has all of his grandparents. . .unfortunately, there is another major medical procedure looming.  Your prayers will be most appreciated on the 16th.

This weekend was full of love, laughter, and family.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important or valuable than that.  I know that I'll always keep this wonderful weekend in my heart.

Children to Grandchildren

My husband and I tried for months upon months upon months to conceive our son. It took nearly a year. By the time that my pregnancy was confirmed, I was delirious with joy. I was so happy that a future baby was firmly ensconced in my womb that I didn't really give much thought to gender. I cleared my mind during the ultrasound, willing myself to not want one or the other, but to be thankful that I was having any child at all.

I do have to confess that I wanted to have a daughter. Until I had my son. I truly adore my son. His smile warms me more than the brightest sunshine ever could. I give thanks for him (and my husband) every single night and I'm so blessed that I was chosen to be my son's mother (and my husband's wife).

I delayed childbirth until I was in my 30s. I had a serious plan with my life and I wasn't going to let kids get in my way. That's how I felt toward children - they stopped progress and killed dreams.

In retrospect, I sometimes wonder if I made the correct decisions with my life. Logically, I know I made the correct choices. But emotionally. . .emotionally I rip myself apart every month for the choices I've made.

My husband and I have been trying to have another baby for over one year. No one obsesses over their underpants like a woman trying to conceive (or hoping not to!) and each month I am crestfallen when my baby dreams are dashed once again. I get angry and, once my fury subsides, I cry bitter tears and feel sorry for myself.

I spent many, many years fearing and preventing childbirth. I find it so completely unfair that having a child is my fondest dream now and that I'm denied my joy each month. Why did I wait so long to start a family? What was so damned important that I kept putting it off?

I've been wondering what I'll tell my son when he is interested in starting a family. Luckily, he's a boy. From a biological standpoint, it isn't all that big of an issue to hold off. He can follow in his father's footsteps and have children as late in life as he chooses. Well, that's assuming that he also marries a significantly younger woman.

I have to say that I'll advise my son to wait as long as possible before starting a family. He can have a solid career, own property, and have significant savings before even thinking of children. He can sow all of his wild oats before he has to settle down and get saddled with life's responsibilities.

Of course, he won't procreate on his own. There will be a woman carrying his child, my grandchild. I hope that my son will faithfully remain with the mother of his child(ren) and I hope that she'll be a wonderful wife to him.

Does it sound impossibly crazy that I already pray for my son's future wife? Well, I do. I pray that she'll be raised in a loving home, that she won't be harmed or wounded (physically, emotionally, or sexually) as she grows, that she'll adore my son and stick with him through all of life's storms. I pray that she'll love my son the way that I love my husband. My son will be a very blessed man if he has such a loving and devoted wife.

My husband and I talked about the differences between having a daughter and having a son prior to our son's birth. With daughters, you worry about every dick on the planet. With sons, you only have to worry about their dick. Of course, that's not entirely true. . .with sons, you have to worry about every predatory p*ssy on the planet. And that scares me so much. I hope that there is a reliable and safe male birth control pill or shot by the time my son is engaging in sexual behavior.

I'm in my mid-30s. I hope not to become a grandparent until I'm in my 70s because I think that would be the best life choice for my son. However, it's not my choice when I become a grandparent. I hope that, whatever my son does with his life, that he does it well and that his actions make his parents proud.