I recently had the privilege of babysitting my two grandchildren for 10 days while their parents went on vacation.
To some that might seem crazy, but I loved every minute of it.
It brought back fond memories of when I was young, changing diapers and running after three small children.
From a grandparent’s perspective, it’s all in how you look at it. Mental health plays a huge part in parenting and grandparenting.
When I raised kids, I was isolated and alone most of the time. I didn’t have social media or playgroups to reach out to for support when I needed it. And I needed it just as much as any young mother does today.
So, how did I cope then compared to now, and what are the differences that I noticed?
Let me tell you what I discovered by looking at it through a grandmother’s perspective.
1. ORGANIZE EVERYTHING
The moment I started babysitting my grandkids, I told myself I had to be organized or the kids would get the best of me. I knew from raising my own kids that I had to organize things like toys, crafts, clothing, activities, household chores, and time.
The moment I lost the art of organization, I knew there would be chaos.
Before they came over, I organized my home. I removed everything from my office (or most of it) and set up a bed and a safe zone.
By that, I mean, I removed obstacles and things in the room that I knew they could get into like my sewing stuff.
I left my desktop computer in there but removed the keyboard and mouse so all they could do was look at the big dark screen and wonder why it wouldn’t turn on. Clever!
Did I mention grandparents have to be sneaky?
For the most part, the room remained intact at the end of the 10 days, except for a broken baseboard which is minor considering what I expected. Nothing in the house was broken or destroyed.
I moved a craft table into the kitchen next to the sink, and this was brilliant. I was able to stand in one spot and pivot back and forth from dishes, laundry, cooking, and helping them do crafts at the table.
They didn’t even notice I was working on the side.
Why didn’t I figure this out when I was a young mom? I think I gave up trying to maintain the house back then because of all the work.
I wish I would have been given this advice back then. It would have saved me a lot of stress. I probably did, but I just didn’t listen. I’m sure my mother gave me tons of advice that I quite easily dismissed because I didn’t think it pertained to me. Her information was outdated or so I thought. Sorry, mom.
Organize everything!
I know, sometimes it’s not possible. Sometimes you don’t have laundry facilities in your home because you live in an apartment, but if you do, it’s best having them upstairs.
I live in a small mobile home, but I have a washer and dryer upstairs. It saved me so much time and effort by not having to run down to the basement to do the washing like I had to when I raised my own kids.
I only used a small laundry basket as well. This revolutionized laundry for me. I did one small load at a time, and when it was ready, I brought that small basket everywhere, including the kitchen while I helped the kids do crafts.
It helped me stay on top of the laundry.
I also have a dishwasher. I didn’t have that when I raised kids. I cried over those endless piles of dishes every night and loathed washing them by hand. When the kids got old enough I gave them that chore. Sorry kids.
If you can get a cheap dishwasher, it will save your sanity.
When I babysat the grandkids, I loaded that dishwasher every time I stood in the kitchen.
Doubling up my chores made it so simple as well. When they were eating, I loaded the dishwasher and folded laundry as I prepped for the next meal.
Why-oh-why wasn’t I more organized back when I raised my own kids? I can’t turn back the clock, but as a grandmother, I can pass on my perspective to anyone who will listen.
Hopefully, somebody will listen. Organize!
2. SCHEDULE YOUR DAY
This is the most profound lesson I learned while taking care of my grandchildren for 10 days. It’s something I never even thought of when I raised my own children. Why didn’t I?
I didn’t like structure. I didn’t want to raise my children with a strictly regimented schedule each day. I wanted the day to unfold naturally. I’m all about natural as you can see from my website Crunchy Menopause. But really, the structure doesn’t have to mean something negative.
Because I was undisciplined and without structure back then, I didn’t accomplish a lot. The days seemed to slip by without me getting much done and I didn’t know why. Well, I do now!
I think a lot of it was depression when I was young. At the time, I was isolated and alone raising my kids in the ’90s and that made me sad and gave me a feeling of hopelessness. I had no support system and had to muddle through on my own. No mother should ever have to go through it alone!
I didn’t know how to best utilize my time because I was in an abysmal place both literally, because of some of the old mice-infested farmhouses we lived in, and mentally as well. I gave up on productivity and let the days unfold willy-nilly. Not good!
Fast forward to today, and I am the queen of productivity and multitasking.
It’s not that I didn’t know how to multi-task and do things that were productive back then, I still got things done but it was excruciatingly hard. Anyone that has a toddler knows how hard it is. At the same time, young parents are masters at multi-tasking, so what am I talking about?
I am talking about a different kind of multi-tasking. The kind I’ve learned in the corporate world.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ll explain what I mean so I don’t get a thousand angry emails.
When I raised my kids, I was a stay-at-home mom. I am, and always will be, an advocate for stay-at-home moms because I believe it is the absolute best for the child. I am also a homeschool advocate because my grandchildren are homeschooled, but that topic is for another day. For now, I’ll focus on stay-at-home moms.
If you know a stay-at-home mom, please support her. She needs it! Show her this article. Help her understand there is hope and purpose in her day and there is life beyond the toddler stage. There is life beyond the kids. A woman goes through seasons of her life and this is just one of them.
To get through this season, you must schedule everything and live on purpose. Live intentionally so you don’t spend your entire day in reaction mode. That is not fun!
I’m right there with you. I know the challenges of scheduling because I was a stay-at-home mom too. Things don’t always turn out the way you want them to, and schedules get lost in the hustle and bustle of family life. Someone bumped their head. Someone is sick again. Someone destroyed the bathroom. I get it!
I was that!
But now I have a different perspective. Schedules work, but they have to be flexible. That is the key to a workable schedule.
It doesn’t even have to be on paper. A schedule can be in your head too. Yes, you heard that right. I know some would tell me that’s not correct, but every person is different. Every mom is different. Every grandmother is different.
My schedule was in my head when I babysat my grandkids for 10 days, but at least I had one.
Because I work a 9-5 job corporate job now, and it taught me to schedule things in my head and multitask everything, I learned this valuable skill and implemented it into grandparenting. So, when my grandkids came to visit me for 10 days, It worked like a charm.
I couldn’t believe how much of a difference it made.
When I raised my kids, I felt I couldn’t take long baths and have time for myself anymore. I was so frustrated and complained constantly.
This time, with my new knowledge and skills, I simply scheduled it in. I got up at 5:55 am like I do for my corporate job, and had all the time in the world to soak in my Epsom salt bath. I think I was in that tub for over an hour with no interruptions at all.
I figured, if I can get up early for my corporate job and accomplish a great deal, then I can get up early while babysitting my grandchildren and accomplish just as much. And it worked!
Make a schedule in your head. Be intentional with your day so it doesn’t fall into the willy-nilly category causing you to react to every little thing that comes along.
Be purposeful even when raising children.
And for those mothers who have mastered scheduling by writing it all out on a massive spreadsheet, you rock! You are way ahead of me. You will succeed in whatever you do.
Scheduling works! Use it and you will rule the world!
3. TAKE BREAKS
When you run after kids all day, you get physically exhausted. That’s a given.
The difference between working in the corporate world and running after kids all day is the amount of physical energy you exert. Although, many jobs outside the home are both mentally and physically exhausting. It depends on what you do.
Generally, working a corporate job, or at least my corporate job, is mentally draining. I mostly sit at a desk all day exerting little to no energy talking and typing, except for days I work a retail shift. Then it’s both.
Raising children takes a lot of muscles.
As you get older, you lose muscle tone and that’s not good when you have to lift your grandchildren often.
I decided to get my arms in shape before my grandkids came over just so I could lift them properly. It helped a great deal, but it was still tiring even though I could manage to lift them.
As a young woman chasing after kids, I never really noticed the arm power required. You need to lift a toddler a lot. You could use them instead of buying weights to work out.
You don’t need to go to the gym anymore. You got them!
If you exert the kind of energy required to chase after a toddler all day without taking a break, you will crash. You will crash as a young mom and certainly as an old one.
I made sure I took some time to relax. I watched movies with my granddaughter in the afternoon. That was my downtime. That was wonderful!
In the corporate world, that doesn’t exist. I felt so privileged to be able to take a break like that without being timed.
Yes, that was another huge difference I found between the corporate world and raising children for a living.
The corporate world requires you to punch a time-clock. At my job, I must account for every minute of my day, right down to the second. No kidding!
It was a huge relief not to have to do that for 10 days. It was like a holiday for me. Freedom actually!
But allowing time for breaks is important. It’s overlooked by most caregivers these days because it’s not an industry standard. Mothers don’t think they are allowed to sit down with a cup of coffee and take a break.
But they ARE!
As for days off, those are allowed too. Though I didn’t babysit long enough to implement this, it is something ALL mothers need to do. Schedule a day off for Pete’s Sake!
I didn’t do this when I raised my kids and I really wish I had.
YOU are privileged to be in charge of your time, so create your own day off just like the corporate world does. I have four days off in a two week pay period. That allows me to have somewhat of a life outside of work.
If mothers thought of their jobs this way, they would do the same exact thing.
Do you sew? Do you write? Do you sell things? Are you trying to run a small business from home? You can if you schedule a regular day off every week.
Guess what! YOU CAN!
Ask your spouse or someone else to watch the children for one day a week and spend it however you want. If you want to work on your business, go for it. If you want to read a book all day, do that.
Spend time on YOU! It’s important for mental health no matter what job you have.
And if you’re a writer like me, you must take a day off in order to tap into that creativity. You can’t expect to be creative around little people.
You can’t get much done with multiple interruptions. Creativity doesn’t work well if you have to turn it on and off all the time.
Every mother young and old knows what I’m talking about here.
So, schedule a day off!
Enroll junior in a dayhome once a week and get a boat-load of writing down. Work on your business plan or sew your heart out. Do what other people do on their day off.
At the very least, schedule two nights off a week as your days off. Get your spouse to watch the kids as soon as he gets home from work. There is no reason he can’t feed, bath, and put the kids to bed.
Dads are more than willing to help most of the time. Just ask!
Then, take your laptop to the library and write for two or three hours. Or, sit at Tim’s, Starbucks, or even McDonald’s with a cup of coffee and free wifi, and work on your online business, or whatever else you have going on.
This investment in yourself will improve mental health and help you (not) lose yourself. It will recharge your batteries so you can be a better person at your job whether that is a stay-at-home mom, or working in the corporate world.
We all need breaks.
We all deserve a day off! Make sure you take yours!
4. STAY HOME
Some people think kids need to be busy all the time. They don’t!
Kids just need a safe, comfortable home, and parents who love them. They don’t need to be constantly shuttled from one event to another to be happy.
When I was taking care of my grandchildren for 10 days, I planned many outings. Don’t get me wrong, they were fun, but everyone was very tired by the end of it.
It’s a lot of work to get children ready especially in the winter. It’s also a lot of work getting them in and out of their car seats all the time.
Don’t even get me started about how much junk you’re apparently supposed to take with you when you go somewhere. After a while, I just didn’t take the extra bags of things along. It was too much work. I don’t know why parents these days feel compelled to travel with so much.
In my day, you were lucky if you had a spare diaper in your purse.
The outings I took my grandchildren on were very memorable, don’t get me wrong. We went to work out at the track. We visited the library. We went swimming. We went out for a treat. We went tobogganing.
But, at the end of the day, the best memories were made right at home.
When I raised my kids, I didn’t go out much. I didn’t have a vehicle. We were a one-vehicle family as most families were back then. Some still are today.
My husband would take the vehicle to work and I would be stuck at home. Often times, we lived on an acreage, so that meant I was completely isolated.
And you know what? My fondest memories were of me and the kids at home. We baked together. We had tea-time together. We did crafts together.
We did everything together.
We didn’t need to be out somewhere with other people to have fun. The kids played with each other. They played with me. They created their own fun.
And they turned out fine.
So, that’s the lesson I learned. I knew it back then, but I just needed a refresher. Staying at home is just as enjoyable as going out to different programs and activities. It just depends on what you do.
Kids can have fun and stay busy no matter where they are.
5. PLAN SHORT OUTINGS
If you do go out, make sure you just plan to be out for a short time. If kids get out of their normal routine, they can get tired and grumpy.
If you stay out too long, junior misses his nap and all chaos can break out.
When my grandchildren were over for 10 days, we only planned one short outing a day, if that.
I thought of doing more in one day, like going to playgroup and swimming the same day, but I’m glad I didn’t.
It would have been too much for them.
It would have been too much for me.
This old grandma only has so much energy. And I’m a grandma that likes to play with my grandkids instead of watching from the sidelines. That takes a lot of work.
When we went to the Field House, we ran on the track together. We played soccer on the turf together. I was right alongside them.
It’s the kind of Nana I’ve always wanted to be. I try to stay in shape but it’s still tiring.
I’m glad I didn’t overdo it. I’m glad I only planned short outings with the kids. If they’re out all the time, they will never fully experience the warmth of their grandparent’s home or the memories that go with it.
We want that to be a fond memory.
Activities will come and go, but a grandparent’s home won’t last forever. Neither will theirs.
6. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS
Before my grandkids came over, I thought of a million things I could do with them.
I did most of the things I wanted to do with them, but I had to know my limitations. I was not a spring chicken anymore. I didn’t want to overdo it.
I spent a month working my arm muscles up so that I could lift my grandkids easily. Previous to that, I had injured my shoulder somehow and was in pain most of the time.
By the time the kids arrived, I was able to lift them, however, I knew if I overdid it, my shoulder would be right back to square one.
I tried not to lift my grandkids a lot but that’s hard to do with a toddler. It’s kind of like slugging a 50lb bag of potatoes around wherever you go. That’s a crazy analogy but you know what I mean. They are heavy little buggers!
You have to lift them into their car seat, then take them out. You have to lift them up or put them down to change their diaper. Everywhere they go they need a helping hand. It was hard not to lift.
But I knew this going in and I was prepared.
I only had a bit of shoulder pain after they left because I knew my limitations.
You have to determine what kind of shape you’re in before babysitting grandchildren. Some grandparents have health restrictions and can’t do much. They have to let their grandchildren come to them instead of picking them up all the time.
Even if you’re in the best shape of your life, you still have to think of creative ways to lift your grandchildren because you’re getting older and it’s just a smart thing to do. Teaching kids to come to you is one way. Telling them Nana can’t lift is another.
When I took the kids to the track, I told my grandchildren Nana only has one rule, and that was that they needed to use their own legs.
The toddler tried to get me to carry him all around the track like his mom did when she was there, but I told him no. There is no reason they can’t use their own legs.
Grandparents, and anyone really, need to set boundaries and limitations with children. Some parents and caregivers have bad backs and can’t lift for those reasons.
If we do too much, we forfeit our health and that does nobody any good. If you want to continue spending time with your grandkids, you have to take care of your body so it doesn’t give out halfway through the visit.
Always know your limitations and stick to them. It’s for your own good.
7. BE FIT
Knowing our limitations when taking care of grandkids has a direct relation to how fit we are. If we are 350 pounds we won’t be running after grandchildren. We won’t be doing much of anything, unfortunately.
I didn’t want to be a grandparent that couldn’t chase after her grandchildren. I wanted to be youthful and vibrant and play with them a lot.
Just before my first grandchild was born, I was 50 pounds overweight due to menopause. I couldn’t even go up a flight of stairs without being out of breath.
I tried everything to lose weight, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t lose it.
Out of sheer desperation, I decided to try something called the 5:2 fast. It was a different way of eating called Intermittent Fasting and I was intrigued.
I lost 50 pounds eating this way, and kept it off. I now do different variations of intermittent fasting like OMAD (one meal a day) and long fasts too.
You can read more about my intermittent fasting journey at the following link, Lose weight During Menopause by Intermittent Fasting if you are interested. I also have an entire website dedicated to intermittent fasting if you want to check out the following link, Hungry Old Lady.
Losing 50 pounds allowed me to be youthful again. It helped me be able to run and chase after my grandchildren. I’ve managed to keep that weight off long term and stay fit.
Intermittent fasting doesn’t just help you lose weight, it also helps you stay young. I’m so glad I have adopted that way of eating. It’s allowed me to be the grandmother I’ve always wanted to be.
It’s allowed me to be fit so I can run and play with the ones I love.
8. WORK IN BITS AND SPURTS
As you get old, no matter how good of shape you’re in, you have to get used to working in bits and spurts.
I am the type of person that believes in the go-big-or-go-home strategy. I’m used to doing it all in one great big spurt and that isn’t always the best way.
Over the years, I have had to change that. With grandchildren especially, I have had to slow down and learn that I can always do something later.
Laundry isn’t going away. Housework isn’t going away. There is a time for everything. Doing chores in bits and spurts is a way to assure you don’t burn out.
I say this to all the young moms as well. I wish I would have adopted this strategy when I was young. I wouldn’t have injured my back as many times as I did.
Instead, I weeded the entire garden in one fell swoop when I was 40 weeks pregnant. Can you believe it? Like a dummy, I also planted an entire field of potatoes all at once, 6 weeks post-partum. Who does that?
I didn’t learn my lesson then and so I continued pushing myself year after year. Did I mention I’m an overachiever? I can’t help it.
Now that I have to slow down and do things in bits and spurts, it seems foreign to me.
Young moms… please don’t push yourself so hard like I did. Do things in bits and spurts so you don’t burn out. If you don’t do it now, it will be harder to switch gears later when you are a grandmother like me.
It’s kind of like running a marathon. If you don’t learn to pace yourself, you won’t make the finish line. Childrearing is like a marathon no matter if you are a parent or a grandparent.
If you don’t finish something, there is always tomorrow. I need to remember that!
9. DON’T STRESS ABOUT THE CARSEAT
Don’t even get me started. I have a few complaints about that darn car seat. The buckles are so hard to do up. I was very frustrated, to say the least.
Firstly, the straps are more difficult than I remember. In my day, they were less complicated. I really started to believe they were deliberately trying to drive grandparents insane with these new-fangled contraptions.
I had no idea how to make the straps longer on my grandson’s car seat so I had to google it. I was able to finally figure it out, but then I couldn’t tighten them up again.
I almost lost my mind.
My granddaughter’s car seat was a bit easier to figure out. We purchased our own (grandparents) car seat that stays in our vehicle, so I was used to it. And my grand-daughter knew how to do it up anyway. Thank goodness!
However, she didn’t know how to unbuckle it, which made it a bit of a challenge especially since the practice nowadays is for a child to take their winter jacket off before buckling up. What! The! Heck!
The premise behind this practice is that the seat belt will fit better, therefore ensuring the child is much safer with a snugger fitting seatbelt.
I have my own opinions about this. I know it saves lives, but I wonder if it’s really necessary. I went to paramedics for a car seat inspection when I first became a grandparent. I wanted to make sure it was installed correctly.
Never was I told a child must take off their winter jacket before buckling up.
I would think the risk of freezing to death would be more important than slightly loose straps, but I guess not. I would think the extra padding from the jacket would be welcomed because seat belt injury during a collision is a real threat.
I don’t like the practice of removing winter jackets to buckle up, but that’s just me. If the parents tell me to do something I do it. No questions asked. I respect that.
But it’s still a frustration for many grandparents, and that’s why I mention it here. If you are a grandparent struggling with car seat issues in general, just make sure you educate yourself well in advance of taking care of your grandchildren.
Google everything!
10. NAPS & QUIETIMES
Naps were another frustration when I babysat my grandchildren. I have always believed nap time is sacred. It not only allows the child time to rest but the caregiver also.
My grandson was used to napping, but I wasn’t used to putting him down for a nap. Yes, my own children napped, but grandchildren are different.
They don’t want to miss a thing when they are with Nana. That means they cry and fuss when you lay them down for their nap. My grandson did this every time.
It became exhausting.
I don’t know how many times he cried, “No, Nana, no!” It was very difficult to leave him in that state, so I laid down with him until he fell asleep.
If that was the only problem, there wouldn’t be an issue, but it wasn’t. It seemed like he was getting too much sleep because he didn’t want to go to bed at night and stayed up playing every night.
I don’t know if it was just a tactic to stay up, but he played and fooled around until 10:30 one night. It was ridiculous!
The next morning after that, I decided to skip the nap altogether. Under normal circumstances, I would never do this. I believe naps are very important. But this wasn’t a normal circumstance.
This was a special time with Nana and Papa.
I cut out the nap and no more playing at night. In fact, my grandson fell asleep in Papa’s arms during Storytime. I carried the sleepy little guy into bed and couldn’t believe how well my plan had worked.
After that, my grandson got to join his sister for movie-time during her quiet time in the afternoon instead of napping. She and I usually watched movies in my bedroom.
He was so excited. When Papa came home, he immediately ran up to him and said, “Papa, Nana’s bed!”
I knew exactly what he meant. He was thrilled that he got to have a quiet time in Nana’s bed watching movies with his sister. How sweet is that!
I think there are times when we need to make exceptions to the rule. Just because a child has a certain routine at home, doesn’t mean it has to be implemented the same way when they are on holidays.
And this was a holiday for them, and for me.
11. FORGET THE FOOD
I wasn’t used to eating all the goodies we had when the grandkids were here and that created problems for my digestive system.
As I said before, I live an intermittent fasting lifestyle. That means I’m used to not eating anything all day and only eating supper.
You can’t easily do that when kids are around. I commend anyone who can do this successfully.
I was only able to do a 16:8 fast and that meant skipping breakfast. That was better than nothing, but it still meant I was eating more than I was used to eating.
One benefit of intermittent fasting is that it reduces body inflammation. So, when I started eating food the kids and I made together, inflammation became a problem again.
Inflammation hadn’t plagued me for a while. My knee started swelling up again. I had injured it last year while running, but it hadn’t bothered me very often until now.
Intermittent fasting kept the inflammation at bay.
Also, intermittent fasting takes brain fog away. The clarity you get when fasting is absolutely incredible. I never struggle with words or remembering what I am talking about when I fast.
As soon as you introduce food, the brain fog comes back. Intermittent fasting helps me stay sharp and allows me to think at work even though I don’t eat until I get home. It’s really quite incredible!
When grandkids come over, the food situation changes. I didn’t want them to think there was anything wrong with eating, so I ate with them. They are too young to understand what intermittent fasting is.
Skipping breakfast was easy enough to do. I could usually distract them so they didn’t notice I wasn’t eating breakfast with them. But I couldn’t do that with other meals.
Often times we made lunch together. How could I help them make it and then not eat it with them? That would be very difficult, so I just ate it with them instead.
I decided to deviate from my fasting regime while the kids were there, and I’m glad I did, but I paid for it dearly. Not only did I feel bloated and swollen most of the time, but I couldn’t remember the names of common things. It was bizarre.
I would say stuff to my granddaughter like, “Can you get the… the… the…?” and she would have to finish my sentence by saying, “Scissors, Nana?” Yes, I meant scissors. It was like I had pregnancy brain all over again. Sadly, I knew it was menopause brain instead.
I can’t tell you how many times I totally forgot what something was called. Scissors. Ketchup. Forks. The remote. It was strange.
All my brain fog came back because I was eating more than I was used to, and eating at times I wasn’t used to eating.
That wasn’t normal. Usually, my mind is sharp and clear. I work with complex computer systems at work and I need to be on the ball at all times or else my butt will get fired.
Intermittent fasting gives me clarity. No kidding! It’s that powerful. So, when I don’t do it, my mind goes to mush.
If I were taking care of my grandchildren for longer than 10 days, which probably will never happen, I would stick to my intermittent fasting regime for sure. I don’t think I could handle eating all that food for very long. I would lose my mind, literally!
But this was a vacation, and I’ve always told myself that vacations are meant to be enjoyable, and that means eating anything you want when you want it.
So, it’s all good.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I just wanted to say that taking care of my grandchildren for 10 days was the most enjoyable thing I’ve done in a long time.
Some would think I was a crazy nut using my vacation time to babysit, but I don’t care. For me, it was a total blessing.
I got a much-needed break from my high-stress corporate job and got to experience being at home every single day.
Nobody told me what to do. There was no micromanaging. There was no time-clock. I didn’t have anyone listening in on my phone conversations and critiquing every word I say.
It was total freedom for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I know, most young parents reading this will laugh, or think I’m nuts, or even take offense. They will probably say parenting is high-stress too, and I totally agree with that. It’s just a different kind of stress.
Some parents need to get away from the kids and would gladly welcome a corporate job.
I guess it’s all in how you look at it. For me though, I have always loved being at home with my kids. I loved the freedom it provided.
Being in control of your own time just doesn’t exist in the corporate world.
I got a taste of freedom and I want more of that. Though I can’t turn back the clock and be a stay-at-home-mom again, I can transition into something else. I can be an entrepreneur and work from home again one day.
Maybe when I retire.
This Nana will forever be grateful for the 10 days I got to play and laugh with my grandchildren, watch movies, toboggan, swim, and all the special things we did together.
It was an epic adventure.
It was a respite from the rat-race and work-stress I usually deal with, and that’s what I needed. For me, going to work every day isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Babysitting reminded me of all the things I loved about being a stay-at-home mom when I raised my kids. Yet, at the time I didn’t appreciate it like I should have. I didn’t realize the blessings I had were right in front of my nose.
Home really is where the heart is and children make it worth the stay.
This vacation was an education for me. It made me realize what was important again. It woke me up to things I had long forgotten about.
It brought me back home even though I couldn’t stay.
Taking care of my grandchildren for 10 days gave me that realization and the hope that one day I’ll get back to that way of life again.
A life where I control my time.
If you have that, don’t ever let it go!
This article is dedicated to two of the best mommy blogs in the world: Tea With Mommy and Motherhood It’s Complicated. YOU ROCK!
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Author Kathleen Morris
Kathleen Morris is a successful published author, blogger, and Youtuber. She enjoys writing about things she’s passionate about and making a difference in the world.
A very happy read, and informative. Loved your point of view as it pertained to your own life experience Kathleen, it is charming and personal, often what is missing in this day and age. Thanks for the great advice, whenever it comes my way, what a true blessing to be a grandparent.
Thank you so much Patricia. I’m glad you liked the article and found some worth in it.