Granny’s Revenge

I was flipping through Tristan’s baby calendar the other day, comparing Tristan and Lucas at seven months of age. (Heartbreakingly, I seem to have lost my 2004 kitchen calendar with all of Simon’s baby milestones. I have every other year since 2001; I’m hoping it presents itself out of the clutter one of these days.) It was interesting to compare my first and my third. I can see, for instance, that they’re nearly the same weight, give or take half a pound on twenty pounds. (Simon, I seem to remember, hit 20 lbs around four months of age!)

What really surprised me, though, was that Tristan was standing and “cruising the furniture” and up on his hands and knees rocking in a pre-crawl motion at this age whereas Lucas has only just reliably mastered sitting up. I’m sure this has everything to do with their own developmental clocks and nothing to do with the fact that every time Lucas begins to lift himself up I sweep his knees out from under him and squash him back down to the ground. Sorry, kid, I’m just not ready for you to get mobile. How’s two years from now by you?

On the other hand, my mother is on the cusp of getting banned from the house. Every time she gets near Lucas, she’s got him standing up on his feet, holding him while he bounces and encouraging him to walk. And muttering something about “Granny’s Revenge.” I don’t think she believes me, but so help me I’ll ban her from the house if she teaches that baby to walk before his first birthday!

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

6 thoughts on “Granny’s Revenge”

  1. oh my god, my mother in law would do this all the time with my second! it used to genuinly piss me off. i just wanted her to come and chill with the kids, not spend the whole time trying to get a 5 month old to walk.

  2. Be thankful you have a Mother-in-law who comes by to spend time with her grandchildren. My In-laws (who should be called Out-laws) say they are way too busy in retirement to come see their grandchildren. My 2 boys are now 12 & 11 and they see (and know) my Mother (and relatives) more than my in-laws. (My Mother lives 100 miles away and my In-laws live 5 miles away from their grandsons.) I’ve tried to encourage my boys to keep in touch with their father’s parents by phone but don’t do so anymore because they never call them back (not even on Birthdays!!!) I figure it’s their loss. My Mother-in-law recently confessed that she hasn’t liked me since the first day she met me and prays for my divorce from her son. So please, appreciate those Grandparents who know they are the luckiest people in the world to spend ANY kind of time with their grandchildren. Sincerely, Fed Up in Caledon, Ontario, Canada.

  3. Gojijoan: As you say, it’s their loss. People who can’t be bothered to enjoy the family they’ve got aren’t worth fretting over for even one second. Sad to say, all for thebut it’s probably all for the best that they have actually voluntarily “removed” themselves. I can only wish my in-laws would have done the same. Nothing good ever came from their visits which they (both MIL, AND FIL) spent dispensing their wise words, suggestions and “advice” in tones that well left both my DH and I feeling less than adequate and stressed out to say the least, which in turn certainly did nothing good for our children, caught in the midst of this. Until we had the courage to draw the line. Now we focus on spending time those with the sets of grandparents who truly care and who genuinely look out for our best interest and that of the kids.

  4. I felt cheated out of babyhood really when Sonja, now 11 months, started walking at 9 months. She took her first few steps then, although actual walking didn’t happen for another couple of weeks after that. Then, at 9 and a half, she up and left. Just like that. No practice, no cruising, no nothing. And I’m thinking “where is my baby? I’m not ready for a toddler!”. Well…she’s a toddler alright. In some ways it’s more fun, it’s definitely more work, but it’s also a little sad since it’s about a 50/50 chance that she’s our last…ugh. Oh well. Those baby days seemed to fly by a lot quicker with the second one…

    Your house sounds like fun with all those boys!!

  5. Oh dear — I think I’ve been misunderstood on this post. Anyone who reads regularly knows that I adore my mother and do as much as I can to let her spend as much time with the boys as she can stand… which is quite a bit. I was kidding about banning her from the house. Honest! Matter of fact, Tristan took his first steps at her house, just after my folks moved across the province to be closer to us.

    Not only do my kids have wonderful grandparents on my side, but they have wonderful grandparents on Beloved’s side as well. And trust me, I’m well aware that this is a blessing times two.

  6. LOL – go Granny go! (ignoring all the other comments to just add my own based on how I read it) 😉

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