not at all

 This past Saturday I went to breakfast with my son and his wife. It was a birthday celebration for me. It was just us, no grandchildren in attendance. It wasn't the first time we have gotten together without the kids being present, but it did give me pause to think. I said to my wife, guess it's just us old people now. And that is what hit home a bit, the kids are old people. I'm certain they don't feel that way, my son is forty-seven and I'm not telling my daughter in laws age, but she isn't a teenager! Suffice to say her children, my grandchildren aren't teenagers either. They are busy with their lives, working, going to college, having relationships. No time for breakfast with the old folks. For the first time I felt like I was having breakfast with other adults, isn't that a strange thing? I mean, yeah, he is my son, but we stand on equal ground. He is, and has been for a number of years, the Mayor of Greensboro. Maria is some sort of vice president for loan operations at Shore United Bank. A position of great responsibility and trust. We, the wife and I, are just the old, retired people that they watch out for. You know what I mean, offer advice about modern technology, explain things to us, and watch us when we are stepping up and down curbs. They are beginning to "parent" the parents. It's kinda cute and touching in a way. 

 Now when we do see the grandkids these days, they are feeling all grown up. They are still respectful of the old people, that's good thing, but express their opinions a bit more freely than in years past. Mark, becoming a recent college graduate and holding a degree is feeling, how should I say this, enlightened. I have noticed he is beginning to lean more toward the liberal side of things, a sort of rebellion against his grandfather and my outdated thinking. I understand that and just smile to myself. That isn't to say it doesn't rile me up sometimes. We are alike in some ways, stubborn and bull headed, a bit of a know it all. Of course, in my case I have the advantage of experience. He calls that old fashioned. He is rebelling against his father a bit too, about life decisions and that sort of thing. Butting heads is what I call that. I did it with my Dad. Now, all these years later I find myself in agreement with what Dad was saying more than not. Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have till it's gone. 

 Now I'm feeling like a new phase has begun. The phase were the kids hang out with the parents. They do so and feel good about that. But not because they feel like they have to, I don't mean it in that way, they want to. Whatever the motivation to do so is not important. The importance lies in action, not thought. We all say, it's the thought that counts but we mean the action caused by that thought. It doesn't matter if it just sending a card, a quick phone call to just say Hi, or a text message. It is the action of them thinking about you that is important. It's a reassurance to know that you are being thought about. 

 As for the kids (my son and his wife) I think this will be a temporary lull. Mark has wedding plans and Morgan is in a relationship. Can grandchildren be far off? I can see that in the not too distant future. Perhaps a year or two. The grandkids have good heads on their shoulders, and I don't think there will be any accidents. Yes, I know said every parent and grandparent that ever lived. But my point is simply when that happens my kids will be active grandparents, no doubt about that. To be truthful I haven't really gotten used to the idea that those kids are parents! To think about them becoming grandparents? Well, it's strange world we all live in that much is certain. And now, now all I can do is sit back and watch. I'm just a spectator in all of this. And you know what? That isn't a bad thing. Not at all.