I’m visiting my grandchildren for the Labor Day holiday. I’ve done my pondering on their back porch this afternoon watching them play. The temperature is just perfect for porch sitting. My drive up to Peachtree City was under an overcast sky. The sky canvas was dirty white, trying to muster up some rain but just couldn’t make it. I saw a big cloud that looked just like a jellyfish with long tendrils hanging down. I bet that cloud was raining down on the earth beneath. I’m always watching for the deer here. We saw a mother deer with twin foals on the way to pick up the boys from school. The fawns were colored coffee beige and brown, their baby spots still visible. Beautiful to watch them walk through the woods slowly, gently following their mother, not bothered by us. Saw two humming birds on a butterfly bush but haven’t seen any song birds yet.

If you don’t have any grandchildren you are missing one of life’s greatest blessings. Order you a few from Amazon, just kidding. Grandchildren bring so much joy and laughter and fun into a family’s life. Grandchildren are an extra source of love. Grandchildren are also great helpers with technology! They make us brave and we try new things because they ask us to. We play board games, and video games, go for long bike rides, float down rivers in a inner tube, and frolic in the ocean where sharks live. I’ll do anything they ask but I draw the line at roller coasters! I remember one summer when our grandchildren were younger they made Chief eat every color of freeze pops we had in the freezer just to see what color his tongue would turn. Course he did it, and they were thrilled and laughed and giggled when he’d stick out his tongue for them to see.

Grandparents understand unconditional love. We have an endless supply of patience. We are caregivers, teachers, and playmates. We’re role models and mentors and spiritual advisors. We share our family history and traditions with our grandchildren to strengthen our family bonds and help them understand their place in the family. Grandparents are also support systems for their children’s families.

I think of my grandchildren as little boats floating in the happy safe harbor of their grandparents’ love. They bob along on the waves of life knowing they will always be unconditionally loved and cherished.

“The most precious jewels you’ll ever have around your neck are the arms of your grandchildren,” — Simply Well Balanced.