When I was a little girl (really until I was 12-13 years old), my favorite activity, other than bothering my big sister, was to play with baby dolls. Not Barbie dolls, but baby dolls. The kind that would pretend to take a bottle or had a pull string to talk, or maybe even wet a diaper. I had Chatty Cathy, Baby Go Bye Bye and Her Bumpety Buggy and the amazing Dancerina Ballerina doll with bendable legs and arms and a knob on the top of her head that you pulled up to make her spin.

I was lucky enough to have 2 of my own children, Kevin and Kyle, who are now 29 and 25. The time passes very quickly!! I was also lucky enough to call hundreds of other children my kids. These were the kids I worked with over my 30 year career as a speech pathologist.

None of this prepared me for the overwhelming sense of joy and love that I have right now as a brand new grandmother. I just celebrated my first Mother’s Day as a grandmother to Beckett, who is 12 weeks old. I am constantly amazed at how different it is to be a grandmother compared to being a mother. As a mother, you are tired, worried, tired, overwhelmed, tired… you get the picture. Overwhelming responsibility to feed your child, keep him safe, make sure he is growing, make sure you do what the pediatrician said to do, listen to advice from everyone, keep up the household chores and remember to take care of yourself. Maybe you even have to go back to work at some point. As a grandmother, all that anxiety and stress is minimized. I won’t say it is completely gone, but certainly tons less than you feel as a mother. There is this engulfing love when you watch your own child parent a newborn, with all the promise of what their futures hold. My heart swells when I see Beckett, in person or in a picture. It is almost indescribable.

Once again, I am lucky enough with this new baby in my life. Lucky enough to be able to be his caregiver as his mom and dad work. Lucky enough that my caregiving responsibilities are 2 days a week so I can continue to play with my embroidery business and lucky enough for Beckett that he gets to experience the best of both worlds – 2 days a week of fun and spoiling from his Gigi and the rest of the week in the loving arms of his mom and dad. Beyond lucky I would say – for all of us!!!