Unexpected grandfatherhood: Embracing the joys of a new chapter

Suddenly, I’m a grandfather.

I never wanted to be one, but now that I am, I enjoy every second.

Last Thursday, my son phoned me in a state. They were returning from a doctor’s visit. “He says she has to go in tomorrow morning for a Caesarean section,” he told me.

Friday morning, I was there, pacing up and down in the hospital cafeteria. And then the WhatsApp message came through – my perfect little granddaughter has been born and mother and baby are fine.

I was over the moon.

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When I held my grandchild that afternoon, one of us was crying. I can’t quite remember which one it was.

The lovely Snapdragon was just as excited about the baby as I was. Little Egg, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as overwhelmed.

She confided in her grandmother: “I think my dad is buying this baby far too much stuff. It’s bound to influence the number of Christmas gifts I’m going to receive.”

I tried to convince her to buy into the hype surrounding the new baby. “You’re an aunty now,” I said.

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“It’s a good thing it’s a girl,” she told me. “Or else I would have been an uncle.”

I managed to keep a straight face, but made a mental note to chuckle later.

“Don’t you want to see the new addition to our family?” I asked.

“I’m too busy,” she said. “This weekend, Mommy and me have to go and buy Christmas decorations. We must put the Christmas tree up the next weekend.”

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“What about tomorrow evening?”

She shook her head. “I’m busy. I’ve got stuff to do. Colouring, drawing… things like that. I’m a busy girl, you know.”

“Don’t you like the idea of a new baby in the family?” I tried again. She shook her head. “I’ve said what I want to say. I don’t have anything else to say.”

Egg should become a politician.

“Did you have the potholes fixed?”

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“I don’t have anything else to say.”

“What about load shedding?”

“I don’t have anything else to say.”

Yip, politics is perfect for her. And little Noodle? (Her real name is Leah-Mae, but it’s a grandfather’s prerogative to give his grandchildren silly nicknames.)

She can be whatever she wants to. And with a young aunt like the one she has, her parents are in for a rough ride.