Children and Grandchildren

My daughter was here with her husband and son for a few days. Oh the memories it has brought back for me!

Laughing with my daughter over the little things that her little boy does is a blessing! What a joy to share the moments of a grandchild's life! I love that she finds humor in the things that he does and enjoys being a mom.

He is a friendly, content little boy. He's big like his daddy, and his uncles. He laughs a throaty deep laugh when he throws the dog's ball down the stairs. Watching her scramble on the wood floors, to bound after her treasure, tickles his funny bone and sends a belly laugh bursting out. He laughs until he is bent over in throes of mirth.

Even the the sternest of people soften at the sound of a child's laughter. You can't help but laugh with them.

I have saved on my cell phone, a message that my daughter sent me when my grandson was eight months old. It's of him laughing at the sound of her spraying windex. The sound of that baby laughter has brightened many of my days.

I had four children under school age. In looking back I'm sure I looked like the crazy lady who had four pre-schoolers. I wanted my children to have the feeling of siblings. My siblings are all so far from me in age. Their dad was one of nine kids and knew all about having brothers and sisters.

We enjoyed our kids. We had very little money but we were rich in children! He had a relative that had a saying I took to heart, "Every child, a million." He said that we should look at each child as a million dollars. Others might be rich in material things but we were rich in the love of family.

I loved every little experience of watching my children grow! Which isn't to say that I didn't have days of being the "crazy lady". Most days all I did was feed, dress, change diapers, bathe, rock, snuggle, change diapers, put babies down for naps, start over and if I was lucky I got a shower.

As they grew our yard housed bigwheels and then bicycles. The driveway was covered in psychedelic colors from sidewalk chalk. We may not have had the amazing landscaping of our neighbors, but I loved what we had instead... children who laughed and played.