When the Grandkids Go Home

Whether you have one grandparent, two, three, or seven,

Whenever you visit them, they are in heaven.

A grandparent’s love is truly unique.

And when you’re not there, they feel incomplete.

Each visit they’ll stuff you with cookies and pies,

And take you to parks with all the best slides.

Buy you soda and snacks — all sorts of treats.

They’ll play all the games. Ride bikes down the street.

They’ll read you stories and books, watch movies galore.

They’ll buy you fun knick-knacks from interesting stores.

They’ll cram every visit so full of fun,

You’ll wonder what they do when vacation is done.

Sure they play golf or cards with their friends.

They might sing or do book clubs, it all just depends.

The one thing they’ll do,

which I know for certain is true

is spend a lot of time thinking of you.

They miss the hustle and bustle of grandkids around

They miss cooking big meals to grandchildren sounds.

So much so, you know what they do?

While making their breakfast, they might write a haiku:

A quiet kitchen.

Three sausages in the pan.

Only the birds sing.

When you visit, you convince them to go on a ride,

For the first time in years, down a waterslide.

So they go back, and go again, and remember the fun,

Of slip-sliding down with their shouting grandson.

They look in the pantry and see tons of snacks

You didn’t eat before you went back

They bypass the wine and cheese and choose to reduce

Their nostalgic supply of goldfish crackers and juice.

When out on errands shopping for something else

They’ll buy every coloring book on the shelf

They’ll load up on paints, glue, markers, and crafts

Stockpiling fun for when you come back.

They skip doing laundry and avoid all their chores

So they can read up on your favorite dinosaurs.

They watch the cartoons that you can’t live without

So they can have any idea what you’re talking about.

If it sounds like they’re crazy or truly obsessed,

They are. They think their grandkids are the best.

If there’s one thing in this book I need you to learn

It’s that your grandparents miss you until you return.

And so, there’s a simple thing you can do

Call them up anytime to say “Hi! How are you?”