I Am A Grandmother – Preparing for Gino!

One of my happiest roles in my life is that of grandmother.  I resonate with the person who once said…”If I had known grandchildren would bring me such I joy, I would have had them first!”  And now, I get to be one again!!  

A couple of months ago Marc and Charlotte told me they were having a baby.  It is their first child and my third grandchild and I am sooo very excited! 

Marc and Charlotte at the Dr.'s office...can you tell they are excited!

Technology has changed greatly since my first grandson was born in 1986. We did not his sex until his birth when his dad came out of the delivery-room high-fiving his brothers while shouting, “It’s a boy!”  We learned the sex of this new baby when he was just 20 weeks old, when the technician wielding the ultrasound wand over Charlotte’s baby bump said…”There IT is!” 

The 20 week ultrasound of Gino, including a 3 D of his little face...amazing!

My special joy was that Marc and Charlotte invited ME to go to this appointment with them to “share the moment!”  They received the news first privately and then invited me into the examination room to meet Gino!

Hi Gino...I am your grandmother, Mima!

My children have conveniently spaced my grandchildren so I could be fully present to each one. In 1986 Nikolas was born and he immediately stole my heart.  He was the one who named me “Mima.” 

Nikolas Arthur Altieri

Then just when he had a become a full-fledged independent teenager, Gabriel was born and fitted nicely into my empty arms.

Gabriel Michael Altieri

Now, Gabriel has just turned 13 and is a teenager, a fact which he reminds me of every time I see him.  So the time is right and I am ready and waiting for Gino!

So how does one prepare for a new grandson?  Well, first of all I started knitting!  Items are accumulating and I am spending hours going through baby pattern books.  

So far...two blankets, bootie socks, and a Royal Blue Newborn Cocoon!

Secondly, I have to have a place for his extra clothes and toys.  Gabriel still has “his” drawer and “his shelf” at our house! So I need to find a place that is just for Gino!

But most importantly, I have to prepare the rocker!  This rocker was purchased when I was expecting my first child.  It has rocked Joey, Michael, Marc, Nikolas, and Gabriel.  I have so many memories of holding little bodies against me while softly singing songs from Burl Ives or Winnie the Pooh.  Or of holding a baby in the middle of the night while everyone slept except for this wide-eyed little one, of looking out the at the moon-lit sky and feeling like we were the only two beings on the earth. 

Over the years the rocker, like the grandmother, has aged!  It has developed a distinctive creak that Marc swears, if he closes his eyes when he hears it, he has the sensation of being rocked!  It has also developed a build-up of wax that has made the seat and armrests a little sticky.  So this weekend Jay and I worked at removing the excess wax and smoothing the wood.  We could refinish it but somehow I like the weathered, aged look of this family relic.  I think it is ready for Gino.

I love being a grandmother.  When a grandchild arrives at my house, the rest of the world stops and I can welcome him as if I had been waiting all day, all my life, just to see him.  It is an easy role.  I don’t have to do anything to be a grandmother.  I just have to “BE.”  It isn’t a job description; it is a state of being.  There is an Italian saying that says… “If nothing is going well, call your grandmother” and it is my joy to be that person!

So to little Gino Bossie Altieri I say...

 “You are the child of my child, and your life is a joy to me!   

I am ready to welcome you into my arms and my life…you are already in my heart!”