Life's Simple Pleasures

Anyone who grew up in the last century (did I really say that?) probably remembers life when it was simpler.

Simpler doesn’t always mean less busy. The years of raising our own large brood exist as a blur in my memory.

Recently, our daughter and son-in-law needed to get away for a vacation, minus children. They asked me to stay with our eight-year-old grandson.

It had been a long time since those hectic years of twenty-four-hour daycare. What if he awoke during the night with a bad dream? Would I hear him?

I am happy to report that dormant motherhood instincts can and will struggle to the surface and revive.

The day after my daughter and SIL left, my grandson awoke with the stomach flu. You know that little gagging sound you hear when a child throws up over the side of his bed? Yes, that one.

That’s how our day started. So, what does a grandma do to entertain a child who should be in school?  Thankfully, he slept a lot. I sifted through ideas on how to clean vomit off a new carpet.

The next day was better. Grandson was more like himself. Now what?

Reaching into the dusty corners of maternal memory, I recalled the magic of reading aloud to children. I remembered placing our three preschoolers on the couch and reading to them while the baby nursed. That was one of the few moments of rest in my day.

Would it work for a second-grade child in today’s world, surrounded by screens and lights and action?

I dug out the chapter books we bought him for Christmas, the ones that lay unread on his bedroom floor. Sitting beside him on the sofa, I read aloud about the adventures of a mouse who traveled to a distant land to rescue his mouse friend. Grandson snuggled beside me under a fuzzy blanket.

This was the grandchild whose parents rented a bounce house for his fifth birthday. The one who lives in a nice house with enough toys to supply a daycare center.

When his parents returned home, his mother asked him what his favorite part with Grandma was. You know what he said? “When she read out loud to me about Geronimo Stilton.”

Life’s simple pleasures: they never change.

What are some simple pleasures you remember from the past? Join the conversation below.