I’m accustomed to dining alone in restaurants, smiling at small children and making faces at babies while their elders chat and eat.
Seldom do I feel jealous of their familial camaraderie, but sometimes, I hear,
“Nana, sit here. Sit by me!”
“No, I get to sit by Nana. Right, Nana?”
And I long for those days when my grandchildren argued over who would get to sit next to me, the revered Nana, at a meal.
I watched yesterday as two young children clamored to share space with their Nana at lunch. I bit my tongue to keep from saying “Lucky you!” to the Nana being fought over. I wanted to encourage her to savor this time. All too soon these children would be teenagers obsessed with their iPhones or grumbling that they’re bored and they’d rather be with friends or hurrying through lunch because they couldn’t be late for some activity.
Nowadays, when I’m lucky enough to dine with my grandkids, I resist saying,”I want to sit by Garrett (or McKayla or Dominique or Jackson or Harper)” because that just wouldn’t be cool, but I sure think about it.
Peace, people.
Praying for Eyebrowz 
💗
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My two have changed just since I stopped caring for them last spring. The initial excitement is still there when they see me after some time but I’ve noticed even at 4 and 7 I fade into the background much easier and quicker than I did before.
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Our youngest grand is 7, and she still wants to play dolls with me and sit next to me, but I only see her maybe twice a year, so I know it’s only a matter of time before I’m just another person in her life.
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I reckon you could have loosened your lip and given further pleasure
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Maybe! I didn’t want to intrude!
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Understood completely
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Awwwwwwwwwwww. I would want to sit beside you.
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😍
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This is one of my favorite quotes ever.
Thanks for sharing.
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You are lucky to be a Nana. At 64 with four grown kids, I still have no grandchildren. Know that things do cycle. My 28 year old is flying down to be with her Grammi for Christmas and her grandmother’s birthday. Teen years are just rough but then they grow into these beautiful adults that value family again. 🙂
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I just live so far away! At least when I do see them they still give great hugs. I have a friend who was in your position. She’d given up on having grandkids then one of her sons married a widow who had two children then they had two more. Never lose hope.
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Thanks for the encouragement. All four of our kids live far away from us and each other. But there is a lot of visiting going on. We’ll see. One is married and one is engaged.
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Can you imagine your grandkids reaction if you did that, though? Pull an “I want to sit by Nana!” moment with them sometime and see how they react. Do you have any idea how amazing that would feel to the grandkid? I get not wanting to seem as though you are playing favorites, so it isn’t exactly practical, but it could be so much fun. It would have been hilarious to see my grandparents start fighting over who got to sit next to one of us. Talk about changing the dynamic!
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It would be funny!
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