Blankets and Blessings

A couple months ago my husband and I got the news that we were going to be grandparents again!!!  Our youngest son and his wife told us they were expecting some time in September.

We were also instructed not to tell anyone at that time as they were waiting to tell their grandparents first. I will have to be honest and tell you that waiting those weeks to tell anyone was extremely hard! (Maybe it is a woman thing….my husband didn’t seem to have a problem at all!)

I needed something to take my mind off my need to keep my mouth shut so I started crocheting a baby blanket. The pattern I used was one I found years ago in a book at a local library. I have no idea what the name of the book is anymore but I know the blanket was called Sweet Dreams.

I love the lacy look of this blanket and when using the soft Caron yarn it is a great baby blanket. I also modified it a bit as the pattern ends up making a rectangular blanket and I wanted a square one.

I am very sure the newest addition to the family will not care one way or another what size or shape that blanket is…….but I do! I kept the baby blankets in my cedar chest that were used for my son’s baptisms. I treasured those blankets….not for the fabric in them but for the babies that were wrapped up in them.

When our first grandchild was born I gave his parents the blankets that his dad had used. There is something to be said for passing things on. There is something wonderful about seeing your grandchild wrapped in the same blanket that his father was. Maybe it is just a mom thing or a grandma thing…..I am not sure….but I thought it was wonderful.

Passing those blankets on spoke of legacy to me. They spoke of the love that had been wrapped in them and continues on to this day. I am always slightly surprised when I realize how many years have passed since those blankets have had a baby wrapped in them.  Maybe I am surprised because I then also confront the age that I am now!

I love the fact that wrapping new grandbabies in those blankets seems to give us a do-over. We get that chance to have those conversations with the little ones that we didn’t seem to have time for when our kids were young.

It gives us a chance to take time to marvel at ants crawling on the ground as we hunker down with a child to watch. We get to feel the smoothness of stones on the gravel road and to find the adventure in the big and small things in life.

As a grandparent we have more time to enjoy those times. We have to say “No” less often and have more time to answer the “Why?” questions.  As a grandparent we are given the gift of time to really enjoy seeing life through the eyes of a child.

It is a blessing to have grandchildren. It is a blessing to see your family grow. May you have a blessed weekend. If you don’t have children or grandchildren I pray you have a child you can borrow so you may have the blessing of seeing life through the eyes of a child.

“The simplest toy,
one which even the youngest child can operate,
is called a grandparent.”
― Sam Levenson

My life is blessed; I have held my children’s children.
Jeremy Taylor