Experiencing joy - the second time around!

Motherhood is both a blessing and a reward....there is an excitement of having a first born...or the second..or the third, etc.  as the case may be.  You experience a mixture of fears, happiness, and difficulties raising them.. The wise mother instills good moral and Christian  values to her children even at their tender ages, leading them by examples through role-modelling...and helping them in everyway only a loving mother knows how. 

Then the kids blossom into teenagers where at this time, being vulnerable to the evils of this world,  you watch and hover over them like a hawk ensuring and praying they don't fall into the wayside.  Before long,  adulthood comes! They leave your nest and start building their own.  Or you stay together, but with a sense of relief they are now more independents. 

You ponder...seems like a distant reminiscing...but not so.. for.a wealth of memories flash back!  You can still vividly recall the pain of bringing them out into this world...you can clearly hear their very first giggles,  you can still feel the excitement of listening to their first baby talks, plus all the other firsts you witnessed as they grew. Then you resolve...you won't exchange the experience of being a mother with anything as you silently smile remembering the laughters you shared together like friends , you squint your eyes recalling how you have defended and fought for them even for the silliest reasons ...your eyes well up remembering their first heartaches they experienced which you became a part of, ..and when they come out unscathed and wiser after those heartaches, you remember the unforgettable delight that it is all over, maybe not forgotten, but from which a lot of lessons were learned from. !  These are the complex emotions of motherhood. 

Then your children are now  mothers or fathers themselves.  You now passed on the legacy.  You feel a certain sense of pride you have done your part well.  You think your parental role in their lives has reached the finish line...but you haven't really!  For you realize motherhood (and parenting)  is a lifetime role.  Only this time, motherhood has taken a different meaning----that of  being  grandparents..which in my case, a grandmother....or as we say if Filipino...a  Lola...for all reasons!!

I  enjoy being a grandmother..and I truthfully say that there is an unexplainable pride and joy of being one! I do not mind being considered "seasoned" or worse-- aged?  To me, age is just a state of mind..if you are held captive by the numbers, then you become a prisoner of the turning years. Grandmothering is somewhat a novel kind of happiness that is a tad different from being a mother---this time, it is a feeling of double and triple joy!  Especially when you have grandkids like mine---a handsome and intelligent 7-year old Migs..and a sweet, and smart almost 4 year old Gina, who are in my daily prayers for a bright future and for a more peaceful world to grow in.

I admit I have a tendency to spoil them from a distance...for they are well behaved, good kids, and as they continue to be achievers...I will always gift them with simple material rewards and forever remain their loving Lola L.  I am thankful for the existence of webcams --the powerful instrument that enables us to connect and talk to each other as though we are not oceans apart. I always enjoy relating with Migs & Gina ...and am looking forward to seeing them become what God has planned for them in the future!  

Yes, I am Lola L to 2 delightful grandkids...but who knows...my younger daughter, Jade, may yet add to this number.

Oh the joy of being Lola L....!!!