With nine grandchildren all under the age of 14, It seems like I eat cake and ice cream nearly every month.
“Grandpaaaaa. Guess what day it is?”
I never guess right.
Grandpaaaaa. It’s my birthday!”
Right. And you’ll have another one next year. In fact you’ll have one on the same day of the same month every year until… well, until.
Some of my grandkids have birthdays a week or two apart.
Stop the world! We need to sing happy birthday again! Frost the cake and sign the cards!
“What did we get her?” I ask Grandma, and try to memorize the name of the doll or action figure, so I won’t be caught flat-footed by a daughter-in-law who might relish embarrassing me with the question—before presents are opened.
Blow out the candles; watch the kids lick off 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, or 14 candles. Tiny sugar bee-bees roll all over the floor from the table top. Mama slaps the birthday girl’s favorite colorful cake onto paper plates.
Open the gifts; “oh” and “ah,” and suddenly it’s over—until next month. Or is it next week?
I’ll ask Grandma. She’ll know.
Cache of Grace 
Well, you sure got the curmudgeon part of being old down right… 😛
Here I was looking for a thought provoking essay on the importance of remembering, of reflecting on God’s glorious gifts… Sounds like sugar makes you cranky.
I work hard on maintaining the curmudgeon persona around the kids (I see 5 of the oldest grandchildren everyday, since Grandma homeschools them). Growling keeps the cubs in line — barely. As for the sugar. Yup. It does make me cranky. And pudgy. Good reasons to avoid it.
Doggone it. Ivan’s (he’s 12) at the door of my office… knocking. I just growled again.
I’m taking advantage of this precious, annoying, noisy season of being close to the grandkids. They’ll always have Grandpa as a gnarled old landmark, memorably gruff but always approving, to look to when life gets confusing. I am a blessed man to be chosen for this purpose. God bless you, Greg. You have a wonderful blog site! I’m new to the blog game.
So what action figure did you get Ivan the other day? 😉
You again! I can’t get away with anything. Apocalypse! Ha! His name is Apocalypse! A little on the ugly side, yet adorable, like me.