Boys, noise, dirt and blizzards make summer delightful
Summer, with all its lazy, crazy days that spill out in delightful, disorganized ways, is ending.
But, oh, we are so fortunate because the loveliness of those days lingers on.
Even as I write this, the sun’s rays are catching the lace curtains on my window, bathing them in a soft golden glow that speaks of warmth and dispels thoughts of what lies ahead.
Despite COVID and the worry and fear that surrounds it, I have had a happy summer filled with so much sunshine, I feel incredibly blessed.
Last week, three little boys, complete with back packs and an assortment of T shirts, jeans, shorts and running shoes dropped their noisy little boy selves into my orderly, quiet, grandma like world.
It was, without a doubt, the highlight of my summer.
They stayed for three days.
During that time, I completely discarded a meal plan I was carefully following, a workout plan I had religiously adopted over the summer and turned down numerous invites for coffee and lunch.
Instead, I wolfed down hotdogs and macaroni along with the boys and completely lost any sense of remorse when I gobbled up the last of the youngest one’s Dairy Queen Blizzard.
Oh, my goodness, I cannot begin to tell you how delicious a Blizzard is. I mean, really, it’s like summer melting on your tongue.
During my sojourn with my three grandsons, I was determined to be the best grandma that ever was.
I just had no idea exactly how I would do that!
I also I had no idea I would be in such competition with video games and Minecraft and something called ‘the switch.’
“I brought my ‘switch’ grandma, the 11-year-old told me.
“Cool,” I said, determined to learn this new language quickly and to appear knowledgeable to these kids who were, after all, only knee high to a grasshopper.
“You can play it with me, grandma,” he said, like he was doing me a great favour.
“Cool,” I said, again, quickly deciding to ignore breakfast dishes and making beds and laundry.
And so, it came to be that grandpa and I played this video game where we adopted fictitious names and raced each other in these little cars that roared and spun their wheels realistically down this crazy track.
“Go, grandma,” the boys yelled. “Oh, grandpa is beating grandma. Too bad, grandma.”
Determinedly I pressed the button harder, but still I could not gain the lead and before I knew it the race was over.
Despite being a loser in video games, I had so much fun with those boys, I know I was much richer for the experience.
It is true, boys are noise with dirt on it. They are laughter, they are tears, they are frustration and bewilderment. But, mostly, there are just joy! Unexplained joy!
And, for just that brief moment in time, when my front entry way was cluttered with runners and jackets were dropped haphazardly here there and everywhere, I was taken back in time to another place when I would routinely check at the front door for three pairs of runners.
My children. All home. All safe!
Yes, it was long ago, and it was far away, but, this summer, three little boys reminded me, once again, of how good it feels when a house becomes a home filled with the laughter of children.
And the front entry is cluttered with runners.
All home! All safe!