Thankful for Grandparents

More than once, my husband and I have thought about moving away from our rural Michigan community, but what has always stopped us was that if we moved we would also move away from our support system. Right now we live within two miles of Steve’s parents and about a half hour from my mom.

This comes in pretty handy this time of year when the Little League schedule gets a bit out of hand. For instance, this week we have had games in Houghton Lake, Gaylord, Grayling and St. Helen.

Just last night, there were games in both Gaylord and Grayling, and I wouldn’t have been able to get all the kids to their respective games if it wasn’t for grandparents.

My two oldest had a game in Gaylord starting at 6 p.m., and I dropped off my two youngest at my mom’s house as we passed through Grayling for my son’s 7 p.m. game in Grayling. I thought he was going to have to miss his game until my mom volunteered. Steve’s parents often fill in to take kids to games at Houghton Lake when I’m traveling to away games.

And in a couple of weeks, I will be going away for a teacher writing camp and Steve will be on call, which means my children will be abandoned by both their parents for the same week. My mom, however, has agreed to take in all four kids for that week, and it even works out because none of the games that week are in Houghton Lake. Even better, three games are in Grayling, which is where my mom lives. The other two are in Roscommon and St. Helen, which aren’t too far away from Grayling.

Steve’s parents often fill in when the kids call home from school because they are sick or need something. I think my mother-in-law has brought the kids home from school more often than I have because she is usually available more often than I am.

With four kids and a busy schedule, I don’t know how we could do it without the support of our extended family.