Thoughts on becoming "Grandma".

Now that I have reached that ripe old age where I could easily be a grandmother without prompting thoughts of "she must have been a "child bride", it has become quite apparent that chronologically I have arrived at that period where we tend to do the limbo between being or thinking we are still young (clinging??) and suddenly with increasing symptoms as proof, being old old old and not understanding how or when it was that we took the giant leap that brought us here. I wager that many of us actually try to take that giant step backwards to offset those incredible things that happen to us no matter how hard we try to fight them off! The one thing that seems inevitable is the continuity of our bloodlines, if we have been lucky enough to have had children that is. Having reared those wonderful self sufficient young people who have become responsible adults, how is it that when we learn about our impending grandmotherhood, we go into a shellshocked state of disbelief? We are either over the moon and ready, those of us who have been able to make peace with the fact that our ingenue days are long past and have been able to excel in the role of either mom of the bride or groom, or we become morose, and incredulous, how could WE possibly be about to turn into our MOTHERS???? ( especially because our moms are still beautiful and seem to have more energy than we do)We are far too young and besides,
whatever became of the ceremony that normally precedes this hatching announcement? We rebel not just at suddenly becoming a grandma but we don't seem at all able to cope with the "missed step", the wedding!!!! This is the true double whammy of the gestational 'grandmother to be' period. As with every situation that at first seems less than optimum, this hysteria about your "unmarried" child can work to your advantage when you consider how you are suddenly so preoccupied with having an out of wedlock grandson, that you have stopped lamenting your lost youth. Once you have had time to adjust to the changes that will certainly come, you will find to your surprise and joy that you have turned into an unselfish, generous, happy, advice-filled, rocking chair buying, babyname book browsing and childproofing expert Grandma someone that deep down you have always wanted to be.