Home

On my refrigerator, there are a bunch of magnets with funny sayings guaranteed to make me greet the day with a smile. The magnets are surrounded by snapshots of my grandchildren. When I stagger into the kitchen in the morning and grab the door of the refrigerator, the magnet at my eye level says, "If I had known grandchildren were so much fun, I'd have had them first."

As I pour my Cheerios and wash my blueberries, I'm not thinking of the chores I have to do that day. I'm remembering them, the five grandkids, all boys, and the fun I've had with them.

This year, I got to attend a college graduation in my nightgown. A first in anybody's lifetime, I'm sure. My oldest grandson graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Unable to attend the graduation, I was feeling very sad until he sent me a computer link to a Web site that would broadcast the event. On that Sunday morning, I sat in front of the computer screen in my nightgown and, miraculously, witnessed the whole thing.

I saw him lining up with the other grads, then go up to get his diploma and march back in the recessional, waving wildly to me all the while. With a big smile on my face, I waved back even though he could not see me, spilling some of my coffee in my lap.

A few weeks later, I got a call from my 7-year-old grandson.

"Grandma," he said. "I have news for you."

"What news?" I asked.

"My class did a mural and it was selected to be in the Metropolitan Museum of Art."

My jaw dropped. This was unbelievable. He explained that the title of the mural was "Big Apple Skyline" and his contribution was the 59th Street Bridge and the Empire State Building.

"That's awesome," I said.

I can't wait to see it.

This child and his brother, age 3, are small and their talents are just being discovered. Yet they are already such fun. One time when they were visiting, they were playing a game with their father. They were skipping along, hand in hand, carrying a bag of snacks, imagining they were on a trip together. Going in and out of the rooms in the center of my house where there are no doors, only archways to separate the rooms, they were singing "California, here I come!"

"Can I play too?" I asked.

Glad to hand over his role of fellow traveler after a dozen rounds, my son said, "Sure, Ma." And I found myself skipping around with the kids, going from room to room, singing about different destinations, ending up laughing till the mascara dripped. If I ever did silly stuff like this with my own children, I don't remember it.

At night, the parents were glad to escape to a movie with us babysitting. When the kids were in bed, I kept hearing talking from their room long after they should have been asleep.

Wondering what on earth they could be talking about for such a long time, I tiptoed up to the door and listened. The 7-year-old was making up a bedtime story about his little brother's passion, dinosaurs. The story was long and exciting, full of twists and turns. I wish I had written it down. As a writer, I was amazed at the ability of a 7-year-old to concoct such an intricate plot. He could teach me a thing or two about writing stories.

One of the grandkids has a great sense of humor. If he pulls a stunt, you may be sure it will harm nobody, but it will be hilarious. One time, he and his teenage friends chipped in to buy a universal television remote. They took it to a Best Buy appliance store and, as they stood idly by, shut down every television in the store simultaneously. They watched the staff going nuts trying to fix the situation. Then they just put it all back on and left the store.

One day, during an unsupervised time on the computer, one of the boys, who was almost 12, managed to order some condom samples. The package was intercepted at the mailbox by his startled mother. "Wait till your father gets home," she said. The incident caused quite a stir. As grandparents, we just laughed.

When two of the boys were small, we tried to add a little culture to their lives by taking them to children's theater. We had no idea that the production, a play about pirates, involved audience participation. When volunteers were requested, the more outgoing of the boys turned away. The younger, quieter child popped out of his seat and rushed up on stage asking "What do I have to do?" As we looked on in amazement, he put on an eye patch, tied a bandana around his head, stuck a fake sword in his belt and ran around the stage swabbing the "deck" with a broom, singing "Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum!"

When my oldest grandson was in 1st grade, I was invited to visit his classroom to read some of my published children's stories to the class. He had heard all the stories before. As I reached the end of each story, he'd blurt out the ending, perhaps to show how smart he was. The teacher and I thought it was funny. The kids did not. They didn't want him to spoil the stories.

Being a grandparent gives you the chance to enjoy the fun without all the work of raising the kids. It's our time to sit back and laugh as they show you the funny side of life.

Toby Rosenstrauch, an award-winning columnist, lives in Boynton Beach, Fla.