Empty nest... sort of?

The last few months have been wild around the Silvers household. Not only was I busy running my first Kickstarter campaign (thanks to everyone for the support!), but my youngest child also moved into her first apartment. 

I helped her get everything in order, checked over her lease before she signed it, assisted with getting utilities put in her name, and even lugged tons of her stuff up a flight of stairs to her second-floor apartment. I even took her shopping for household goods and let her rob a lot of stuff from my house. LOL!

It was a rush of activity that lasted a couple of weeks. Then, when it was all over and she was settled into her place, I looked around my house and realized it still didn't feel like the "empty nest" all the older people had promised me when my kids were little. 

Nope. 

Now my house is filled with... grandkids!

The husband and I married young and started having kids right away. My youngest of three was born two days before I turned 28. We expected to have a LOT of quality alone/together time once all the kids moved out and into adulthood. We were going to travel more, eat out at new restaurants a few times a month, take drives in the mountains just because. Things we couldn't do when we had a houseful of kids and bills and responsibilities.

Then our middle child had our first grandson in 2020 when Covid hit, and then our second grandson three years later. When she returned to part-time work, I watched the babies for a few hours in the evenings. That started out as a few days a week, then more days, then longer hours, then she divorced and had to work full-time. At this point, she and the boys were used to Gammie having them.

These boys are something else. I love them more than I could have ever imagined. They make me laugh and give me cuddles. They amaze me with how brilliant they can be, and then have me rolling my eyes at the weird things little boys tend to do. Sometimes they even make me miss when my kids were this age. Then I come to my senses as one of them tries to body slam the other on the couch. *Sigh*

I thought I'd have an empty nest, yet here I am chasing a toddler and a preschooler all over again 5+ days a week, and it's not as easy this time around as I creep toward 50 years old.