Under normal circumstances, the distance to our son’s home is about 2 ½ hours. In the past, we’ve often driven to Sealy and returned home after the game was over. Sometimes we stay over. Sometimes we don’t. We always feel welcomed to do it either way.
The General methodically had planned it all out in her head. We’d see the football game on Thursday night, go to the girl’s volleyball game on Friday that was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. [an hour and a half south of where they live], and then go see Jenna run cross-country on Saturday morning. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Seriously, who makes a plan like that? The General does.
Normally my weekends are filled with lots of things that are pretty routine and pretty non-negotiable. Perhaps, only in my mind are they important. The General seems to think all it takes is my computer and I can work from anywhere. Take church for example. I don’t just show up on Sunday mornings without having finalized a message at least in my head the day before. Now the General is talking about our getting home around noon on Saturday. Maybe once in a blue moon, a plan like that might work, but it cannot – it must not – it will not be a matter of weekly routine.
I listened in a state of disbelief on Wednesday as the General explained that she doesn’t plan to miss any of the grandkid’s home games. I get that. If they were playing in Dripping Springs, I can see us being in attendance weekly if we were in town. Hello Houston – We’ve got a problem. Our grandchildren don’t live in Dripping Springs.
Because of the General’s delusional intent to have her feet on the ground and/or her body in the bleachers for every home game, does that mean the General loves her grandkids more than I do? Absolutely not! Seriously, has the General been smoking with Willie? The General’s plan doesn’t work! It defies logic. It is craziness personified!!!! For starters, I had two meetings in the greater Austin area on Friday.
To say that we compromised is a stretch of the imagination. We spent Thursday night in Cat Spring. I was up early yesterday to take care of business (aka – write my blog). Jake, the youngest came downstairs at 6:00 a.m. Honestly, seldom have I seen Jake in anything other than a good mood. He was beaming at 6:00 a.m.
I mentioned to Jake that he was up early. “I know”, he said before adding: “Since I’m leaving town with my friend’s family after school today, I wanted to get up early to spend time with you since I won’t have a chance to see you again this trip”.
Are you ready for this? Jake even offered to make me scrambled eggs for breakfast. I passed on the eggs, but I set the blog aside to share uninterrupted time with Jake. He doesn’t really need much feedback for a conversation. He talks non-stop.
At about 6:30, he asked if I knew what time Gram would be getting up? The kid is smooth! He wanted to spend time with her as well. I assured him that if he communicated the same message to her that he shared with me, it would fill her heart with joy.
As it turned out, I drove Jake to school before I headed back to Austin for my two meetings. Instead of heading homeward when my Friday afternoon meeting was over, I point my truck back in the direction from which I had come. After all, the General and Snickers were still in Cat Spring.
The logistics didn’t work for me to make the volleyball game. Actually the commute out of Austin through Bastrop was at a snails pace. There is nothing like a holiday weekend to add incentive for everyone with a car to get on the road.
I did have the thought as I was sitting in stop and go traffic yesterday making my way back to Cat Springs that the madness associated to the General’s logic is flawed. Although we always feel welcomed in their home, I don’t really suspect that Craig’s family wants us to move in with them for the next six years just because we need to be at all of their games.
The General rationalizes her plan not to miss anything on the notion that the grandkids are older and they’ll soon be grown and gone. That’s crazy talk! The first half is true, they’ll be grown. Even with the Millennials, those kids didn’t’ leave home at 18. 55% were still at home until they turned 25. Our grandchildren are part of Generation Z.
According to folks at the Pew Research, anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial. Anyone born from 1997 onward is part of the Generation Z designation. Interestingly, the only generation officially designated by the U.S. Census Bureau is the Baby Boomer Generation.
The grandparent/grandchild connection lasts forever. It isn’t going to disintegrate when our grandchildren graduate from high school. I figure with grandchildren, it is ‘til death do us part.
I will be back for more games, but it won’t be weekly. The General will be back as well. Will she come for every game in Sealy (purposefully avoided the term “home” games)? Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that question. I guess only time will tell.
All My Best!
Don