This is one of those 4D ultrasound images. Taken last month, it shows my grandson at around 30 weeks gestation. Ain't he handsome?
For years, my kids were vocal about their desire to add a pool and a trampoline to our backyard.
My answer was a consistent "no, not happening." Setting aside the financial outlay, I was simply too lazy to mow around more obstacles, and I wasn't interested in taking over the ongoing maintenance a pool requires.
As the kids moved out, the pool and trampoline discussion subsided.
Until one day earlier this summer when Terry and I were sitting on the deck and she matter-of-factly raised the question of where in our backyard we would put an above-ground pool. I reflexively expressed my reservations, at which point Terry played what has become the ultimate trump card.
"Our grandson will love coming to our house even more if he has a pool to play in," she said.
I stopped cold. Chloe hadn't even birthed this little boy, our first grandchild, and already he was coloring the way I saw the world.
And for the first time ever, I was open to the idea of becoming a pool owner.
I love my five kids. They're all great. But why was I suddenly OK with a pool for a baby I haven't even met after years of not being OK with it when my own children would ask?
Practical reasons, for one thing. I no longer cut our grass, so mowing around a pool becomes a problem (admittedly a very slight one) only for Nick, our lawn guy. Plus, honestly, we're simply in a better financial situation now than we ever were when the kids were little.
There's also the ever-present and powerful desire to spoil our grandson and make Grandma and Grandpa's house the fun place to be.
The point is, I can't believe how attractive the idea of a pool suddenly sounds after years of resisting it.
As far as a trampoline goes, that request will have to come from the grandbaby himself. If he wants one, we'll look into it.
Why do I get the feeling that all of his adult aunts and uncles on our side of the family will be whispering in his ear to ask for that trampoline in a few years?
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