Grandpa HoneyBunch

When my kids were little we would make a big deal of Grandparents’ Day.  We planned our weekend visiting and delivering tokens of our love and appreciation to the grandparents - small plants or flowers for the grandmoms and great-grandmothers, cards and a candy bar for the grandfathers. 

Only one on that list is still with us.  

I became a grandma in 2001; HB acquired the prestigious title of grandpa when he married me in 2006.  Since then we have “titled” him seven more times.

He is tickled pink (but mostly blue since seven of the eight are boys) and takes the title of Grandpa HoneyBunch seriously.

He’s built furniture, toys, and playscapes.  He’s repaired hundreds of store-bought items not meant for the rambunctiousness of healthy and curious hands. He’s hiked, fished, and roller skated.  He has cheered at t-ball, baseball, and soccer games.  He’s dried tears, fixed boo boo’s, and given advice. 

Nothing makes me smile more than to watch him go about his chores shadowed by a little man, listen to him hold a serious conversation with a preschooler, or have him drop whatever he is doing because one of the grandkids needs him.

They think he is “cool,” but then he saves baby birds, eight-foot long snake skins, or the snake itself to show them “just in case they drop by.” All I have going in my favor is an educational DVD or book, a home cooked meal, or ice cream.  

He downplays his grandfatherhoodness, saying he is just their step-grandpa, but I assure him his unselfish love, his limitless sacrifice, and his fatherly example have earned him the use of the full-fledged title. Happy Grandparents’ Day, HoneyBunch.

 

Grandparents’ Day is always the first Sunday after Labor Day, so this year we celebrate it on September 9th, 2012.