Although I raised 7 children and was “in the thick of it” years ago, the hectic nature of those days has faded. But as all grandparents know, when our grands visit, we’re quickly reminded of those busy (and sometimes peculiar) days.

My 12 grands range in age from 1 to 10 with #13 due in January. It’s a joy to know we’ll still have babies in the family for a while longer, though I’m looking forward to the time when 9 of these first grands will be teenagers at the same time.

Grandkids keep us oldsters from getting stodgy. And they definitely keep us laughing. For instance, one day this summer when all of us were mobilizing for a trip to the beach, 5-year-old Andrew was looking for several water-maze toys that were missing.

We hunted everywhere without success – until the command was given for all the children to go potty before the beach.

That’s when we found the missing toys…. along with a floating slice of orange. The guilty party, 18-month-old Jonathan, had been washing the toys, along with his snack.

Later, someone reported that a treasured collection of beach stones was missing. We found those in the  extra microwave in the basement.

With toys disappearing right and left, the older kids began hiding their favorites so the little ones wouldn’t run off with them. And two months later, I’m still finding things (like this neatly parked car on a shelf behind a chair).

As delightful as it was having my little gang of grands with me, their visit did require some energetic elbow grease after they’d gone. Woodwork paint had been picked-at by some clever child who had discovered yellow paint beneath the white. She had notched spots around a door frame, giving it a new polka-dot look.

The freshly-covered dining room chairs had experienced a baptism by fire…. or I should say by food…. and would need some intense TLC. 

Pudgy hand-prints had been “painted” on the windows by an artist who’d used peanut butter as his medium. And the toy bins labeled “CARS,” “DOLLS,” “DRESS-UP,” etc. had been reorganized so they could have all been labeled “MISCELLANEOUS.”

As Mom used to say, though, “The mess children leave is a happy mess.” So after our wistful goodbyes, I dove in with gusto. The house was sadly quiet, but finding evidence of my grands in every room soothed my missing them.

As for the dining room chairs? They came clean as a whistle. Mess or no mess, I can’t wait till my young relatives return.

“Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged.” (Proverbs 17:6)