My Work Here Is Finished

I have learned how to work the remote (I think) and I got to the store and back without using the GPS. I think it is time to go home.

I think I've had a little sense of how weird it would be if we lived in a culture where the mother-in-law lived with her son and family as, well...sort of a third wheel. It's been nice to help Shandie, but they need their time alone now to bond as a family. And there will be some spoiling that needs to be undone with Maddie. (Sorry about that Shandie. I couldn't help myself, really!)

It will be months before I see Maddie and McKinlie again. Will Maddie remember that I was the one who taught her "The Wheels on the Bus?" Probably not. McKinlie may be crawling by then and will have evolved into an entirely different being. Sigh.

It's been wonderful seeing Nephi and Shandie together. They are so cute together and love each other very much. One of the great gifts of being a grandparent is watching your children be parents. Nephi works and works and works as a dad. And he is so incredibly patient with Maddie. Saturday night there was a most important basketball game on that he could only watch on his computer in his office. Unfortunately, Maddie kept wanting him to be in the family room with her while she watched a show. He kept sneaking out to catch the game and she kept calling him back. And he went back...even when his team lost their lead. Amazing! The boy of nineteen that I once knew could never have made such a sacrifice. But he smiled each time she drew him back. No fly has flown more willingly into a web. She has him wrapped around her little finger. And she knows it. But what a sweet little web she weaves.

It was hard last night to say good bye to my son. He's off at work already (6:15 a.m.). It will be another long twelve-hour day for him, working hard to support his little family. They have troubles like everyone; money problems, worries about their kids, spats about in-laws. What a ride this life is! But he will experience the joy of coming home to his girls (all three of them now). And that makes all the other stuff worth it.

I don't know the next time I will see him. A son in Texas and a daughter in Ohio is too much sometimes for this mother heart to bear. I'm so grateful to have Sarah, Clayton, Sean and Emily close by. And I am grateful to have cell phones and air planes and computers to keep all of my kids close by in one way or another. It is a much smaller world than it was. I am grateful for that.

Have I said lately how grateful I am to be a mother and now a grandmother? It's the best job in the world. Hands down. Even when you have to work remotes.