Grandma

When my husband passed away I was only 39 and the two youngest of my troupe were 5 and 3 years old. At that time I had told my eldest daughter not to make me a young grandmother. I had made my mother a grandmother at the age of 36 and so I was not ready to go down that path at the age of 39. Now I will be turning 50 next month, it is time. I want a grandchild. The feeling started to come over me when I had turned 46 and much to my dismay my daughter for once in her life listened to me and so I am still waiting.

It wouldn't be so bad except my niece who married almost three years ago now has 2 children. She is 28 years old now, the same age as my eldest son, (he's not even married yet!), and so it has become a bone of contention with me. Now I am not one of those nagging mothers some even say I am quite cool for a mom, but this is one thing I find myself nagging about is the lack of grandchildren. It doesn't help matters that when I visit my in laws or call them for anything they always slip in the same question "Is Dawn pregnant yet?" They know I badly want a grandchild and that I am green with envy that my sister in law now has two.

Now my daughter and her husband lived together before they got married, and a few months before that big day she stopped using birth control. So she has had ample time to get pregnant. When she told me, I had asked her what would happen if she got pregnant before the wedding. Her dress was quite fitted and I was worried about an expanding waist line. "Don't worry ma" she said "the back of the dress is laced up so it can be loosened. "Ok " I'd said and waited.

Now most Sundays we go out for our family dinner. I insist on it as that is the only time we spend any time together as a family. It has been years since we have all sat down to dinner together. With the kids working and one working in Singapore we don't spend much time together and so that is why I want my family dinners. Now our family dinner is the time were we catch up on what is happening in our lives, we laugh, we fight, we talk cock, and so, at one of our dinners a few weeks ago the topic got around to grandchildren. That week her husband couldn't make it for dinner so I asked her why she's not pregnant yet. "Are you trying." I'd asked her. "I mean I want to be a grandmother before I die." " Well mom" she says since "Alex is working so hard and most of the time, by the time he gets home I'm asleep." "Oh" I said "in that case I have a solution." "Book lunch." "HUH" she said. "Yeah, make a lunch time appointment with each other, rush back to the condo get the job done then go back to work." She just gave me one of her withering looks slapped herself on the forehead and shook her head. Well I thought it was a good idea. A little afternoon delight.