To The New Grandmother On Mother’s Day

To the new Grandmothers on Mother’s day, I know the title may not seem to fit you yet. It seems like just yesterday you held your own first born child in your arm – watched him or her take their first steps, speak their first words, take their first careful breaths of life. I know you’re baffled by the time that has evaded you so quickly and suddenly led you here – to the place where you are holding your legacy inside your arms. But let me say congratulations. You got here.

To the new Grandmothers on mother’s day, enjoy it. Enjoy the legacy you’re leaving and the family that you’re building and the love that you’ve passed down for now more than one generation. Realize that the child you hold in your arms would never have come into existence had it not been for the care and the patience that you showed their parent. The nights you woke up to their cries. The lunches you cut up and sent them to school with. The fights and the conflicts you endured as they moved through their teenage years – the years neither of you were sure you’d make it out of alive. Know that the child you hold in your arms is a direct result of all of your patience and diligence.

To the new Grandmothers on Mother’s day, know that we respect you. Anyone can have a child but not anyone can raise one into someone strong and brave enough to take on the challenge of parenthood themselves – not everyone can instill inside their children the confidence and competence that you were able to. It is the mark of having come from a house full of love – one where children were celebrated, cared for and encouraged to go out and explore with unending curiosity – ones who were convinced that they were capable of achieving whatever they wanted. Ones who felt compelled to pass on that love to a child of their own.

To the new Grandmothers on Mother’s day, know that you can sleep easy at night. Not just because you are not the one with a newborn, but because you know that he or she is in good hands. That long before your grandchild’s first birthday, you’d given them the greatest gift they could hope for – a parent who learned from the unconditional love and affection of their parent. A parent who was celebrated, spoiled, disciplined and loved all in stride. A parent who grew up on a mixture of compassion and tough love. A parent who never had to wonder whether or not they would be cared for.

To the new Grandmothers on Mother’s day, congratulations. Gone are the sleepless nights, the insecurities, the days of accidentally showing up to work with spit-up on your sweater. Gone are the heated arguments, the temper tantrums, the discipline and the defiance. From this point forward, you only reap the rewards of your investment. May you enjoy every smile, every gurgle, every milestone that passes – without you having to change a single diaper. May you rest assured that your job is both done and just beginning – that you have a whole new life to nurture.

And that the new child is lucky to have a grandparent like you.