Then and Now

Grandbabies are one of the most incredible delights that life offers older folks like us if we are lucky…and, admittedly, David and I are, in this area. We get to babysit 2 of our 4 grandkids – Eliana and Ethan – every week and have extended visits with our 2 daughters: Allison (baby Zoey) and Lauren (baby May), both of whom live a distance away.  

These are built-in opportunities for me to relive some of my happiest years when I was in my 20s and 30s and home full-time with my little ones.  

Some of my favorite memories involve all the times we walked to a local playground, with me pushing the kiddies in the stroller. When we’d leave home, I’d always wonder if I’d make it the 15 or 20 minutes to our destination without them getting antsy and requiring snacks or any other action, such as carrying one in my arm or bending down to hold his/her hand (while also navigating the stroller). All of these maneuvers were typical especially for Allison, who preferred climbing out instead of kicking back and enjoying the sights.

At the playground I’d run around with the little munchkins, come home for lunch, play outside in the afternoon (and conk out soon after the last one went to bed). For a woman in her 30s, all of these repetitive movements like bending, kneeling, crawling, lifting, and running after the little ones weren’t a big deal, although in thinking about it now, I wonder how I did it then day after day, year after year. 

It is an altogether different story for this 60+-year-old. Standout moves above and beyond the usual stuff include, for 4-year-old Eliana, lifting her above my head for a couple of minutes (or was it just one, or 30 seconds?) to reach the monkey bars and walk with her in this position while she grabbed for each rung.  

For 1-year-old Zoey, a couple of our walks in the stroller this past week required me to hold her upright while she dangled midway on my body as she pushed the handle, instead of sitting in the darn thing. While this may sound like no big deal, and you may wonder why I am talking about this, I say Try this move! It ain’t easy! I had to take a Motrin before bed. And the next morning.

The biggest difference between then and now is that, in the past, I never gave thought to the physical requirements of the job but today, my mind lets me know that my body may struggle to deliver.