If only we could all be this way
Yesterday was another crazy day in the life of a grandparent. With the joys of being privileged enough to have one, my wife and I are blessed with two. A four-year-old granddaughter and a two-year-old grandson. They are both amazing and despite exhausting papa on every visit, this old papa enjoys nothing more. Yet sometimes being a grandparent brings out the deepest worries. Then, in almost the same moment, the biggest joys in perspective. Such was yesterday.
As I was working on some things around the house, my wife went shopping with our daughter-in-law and our two grandchildren. They had planned on shopping earlier, but when my granddaughter heard they were going to her favorite store, she pitched a fit until they agreed to wait to go after she got out of school. After all, no one gets to go to Hobby Lobby without her.
So about two o’clock, my wife takes off to go with our daughter-in-law to pick the little princess up and head out to shop. I figured I had a little time, so I worked on another paperwork shuffle in my “office,” a futile process that I swore I’d never do, but being old, it is a thing.
As the sun went down and the clock began creeping toward six o’clock, I wondered what was taking my wife so long. Surely, they had emptied the store by then. However, I didn’t worry yet. After all, my wife can go “shopping” forever and not spend a thing. After shopping, she can talk for hours and not say a thing. So again, nothing to worry about. That is until there is something to worry about.
So it was that at six o’clock, I got the “something to worry about phone call” from my wife. They were in urgent care with my grandson. His temperature had suddenly spiked, and he was throwing up. Of course, with all the disease that is currently floating around in the world, the culprit of his ails was a mystery even after being seen by the doctor. From the pictures my wife sent, my little buddy was miserable.
The full story was that while they were in Hobby Lobby, my grandson just began throwing up and for a moment couldn’t seem to stop. The vomit went everywhere. All over the floor, his clothes, my wife’s clothes, and just made one giant crazy mess. As his vomiting slowed, my wife and daughter-in-law tried to clean up as much as they could. Fortunately for them, the workers at Hobby Lobby are, as usual, always just some kind of special. They blocked off the area and brought wet paper towels and regular towels to help. They also said not to worry about the mess, they would take care of it. They even helped my daughter-in-law load the kids out while my wife checked out.
As my wife hung up, the grandparents’ worry mode kicked into gear. It tempted me to rush to the clinic, however having run my own clinics, I knew I would just cause more confusion and increase the tension of the situation. So I sat down in my chair and “patiently” waited for the next update.
Fortunately, the wait was brief. They gave my grandson some medication to settle him down. The tests for various illnesses were all negative, and they assumed he just had a “bug,” a term I hated. However, I used to throw it around myself when I had no clue what was going on. But at least there was some assurance that nothing serious was happening, the only thing any grandparent can hope for when these little ones are sick. So off they all went to go home. That’s when my granddaughter’s special view of life kicked in as only a four-year-old can.
As my wife tells it, while they were driving home, my granddaughter saw the first Christmas lights of the season. Of course, she became excited. With a big smile on her face, she said, “best day ever.” Yep, a day of vomit and doctor’s office negated by a Hobby Lobby load and the beauty of Christmas. If only we could all see the world as she sees it. It’s magical.