Our lives are crazy busy. “Our” could metaphorically represent anyone reading this blog post, but I’m literally talking about my husband and me. Our lives. So busy. All. The. Time. It’s the nature of my job – lots of nights working and supervising events and activities, with an occasional school event on a weekend thrown into the mix. Going out of town for conferences. Staying late for meetings. Completing your daily “to do” list at home. I’m not complaining – I absolutely love my job – I hope that is evident – but it’s a simple truth that comes along with the territory of a school administrator. To compound the craziness just a bit, my husband works for a major retailer. If you know what retail hours are like, you feel our pain. Late nights and weekends galore. Did I mention that I also give pitching lessons anywhere between 4-6 times a month?  Throw a social life into the mix (haha) and a two and a half year old, and you could say our days (and nights) stay “fairly” busy.

We have fortunately been blessed with the most amazing family. Ever. My parents (whom we will call GG and Gramps) and my husband’s parents (whom we will call Mimi and Grandad) are a true blessing that I cannot even begin expressing enough gratitude towards. I say blessing because I know that not every family’s dynamic works the way that ours does, and I’m incredibly thankful for what we have.

Now, I know “they” say that becoming a grandparent is one of the most amazing things that will ever happen to you, and I’m sure that is no lie. But our parents do more than what their grandparently duties call of them. They go above and beyond. They’re there when we need them. They’re only a phone call away. They help us get by. I am so incredibly thankful for this (have I said that yet?). Because of our parents, my husband and I are able to pursue careers that we love, without having to hire a babysitter when we have late nights at work, when I’m giving pitching lessons, or when we simply want to have a night with friends. They are our rock, and I hope to never forget the way they have been there for us, and I hope to be able to pay it forward to them, and to our kids as well. (On a side note – I do feel as though we are able to give our daughter the love and attention she needs and deserves – I’m just saying it gets a bit wacky around here sometimes.)

In addition to saving our tails when we need someone to watch our daughter, I love how much our parents love her. Knowing that she has a special relationship with each of her four grandparents is such a remarkable gift, which I hope she one day realizes. She’s too young at this point in her life to have these memories when she’s older, but I hope she remembers how much fun she had when Mimi would give her a treasure, or come spend the day with her every other Friday, and go on adventures rather than go to daycare. I hope she remembers how Grandad lit up every time he saw her and made her feel like she was the most important thing on earth. I hope she remembers all the walks and wagon rides with Gramps, not to mention the countless trips to Culver’s to get a kids meal with ice cream! I hope she remembers Sundays with GG, and all the love that got poured into meals followed by playtime, bath time, dessert, and lots of hugs and kisses. I hope she remembers the countless fun sleepovers she had at both sets of grandparents’ houses. Those memories are forever in my heart, and they are such special times for our family.

When I think of grandparents, I not only have the gift of knowing this life with amazing grandparents for our daughter, but I also remember my own childhood with four wonderful, loving grandparents. These memories are filled with nostalgia, love, and happiness, and they usually come with some belly laughs when reminisced upon with my brother and cousins.  The bottom line was that we loved being with our grandparents, and if I could go back in time to have some of those moments back, I would in a heartbeat.

It seems only appropriate that I post this on National Grandparents’ Day. (But I will be completely honest, I had no idea it was Grandparents’ Day until two minutes ago when I took a quick Facebook break and saw posts about grandkids getting their grandparents gifts. It was a 100% coincidence that I wrote this post today. So, um.. err.. this is awkward. Sorry Mimi, Grandad, GG and Gramps. No Grandparents’ Day card or gift for you. Are you really surprised though? No, probably not.) At any rate, this post is dedicated to all of the grandparents out there, especially my grandparents, my husband’s grandparents, my parents and my in-laws. Thank you for being such fun, positive, loving influences in our lives, and for never stopping your unconditional love as a parent. We love you. We thank you. We adore you.

-Megan