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The Chaos

There are two things I learned on Day 4: four- and two-year-olds have unlimited energy, and grandparents were not designed for 3:30 AM starts.

Day 4 was fun, exhausting, chaotic, and a great reminder of just how much work goes into raising a family.

I spent the day with my son and my two grandkids, ages 4 and 2. This was much busier than I remember raising kids at those ages. Maybe my memory has conveniently removed the hard parts.

The day started at 3:30 AM when the youngest woke up screaming, “I want to get out!” Meaning, of course, out of his crib so he could start the day and play.

He did eventually fall back asleep until about 6:00, when both kids decided it was time to jump on Grandpa in bed. That was the official start of my day.

We had some breakfast, then it was off to a few hours of school for the oldest, followed by swim lessons for the youngest. After that, we went to breakfast.

By the time we got home, we had about an hour to clean up what can only be described as a small-scale nuclear disaster. Apparently, two children and a room full of toys can create a level of destruction that would impress a demolition crew.

At 1:00, we picked up the oldest and the mayhem started all over again.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to keep them occupied. There was television, food, bathroom trips, toys, more toys, and apparently the need to completely rearrange the contents of every room in the house.

I did my best to keep them busy and give my son a little bit of a break. I even managed to watch parts of Toy Story 1 through 5, although “watch” may be a generous description. I saw pieces of each movie whenever the kids were actually sitting still.

I also saw bits of Hercules.

At this point, I think I deserve some sort of Disney certification.

And on a completely unrelated side note, I don’t know if this is all Floridians now or just my son, daughter-in-law, and daughter but they keep their house at approximately the temperature of a meat locker.

I’m freezing.

By 7:00, we somehow managed to get the kids fed and into bed. Then my son and I started the next shift: cleaning and doing dishes until my daughter-in-law came home.

My son and daughter-in-law both work 12-hour shifts on opposite days. That means one of them is working while the other is handling the kids, the house, meals, school, activities, bedtime, and everything else that comes with raising two young children.

Then they switch.

They don’t get much downtime, and there certainly isn’t much sitting around relaxing.

Watching my son do all of this gave me a different perspective. As a father, you remember raising your own kids, but you tend to forget just how relentless those years can be. Seeing your child become the parent changes that.

I’m exhausted after one day.

They do this every day.

And they are doing a damn good job of it.

I’m proud of my son and my daughter-in-law. They have a lot on their plates, but they keep showing up, doing the work, raising their kids, and making it happen.

As for me, I was in bed and asleep by 8:30.

I was too tired to even read.

And tomorrow?

I expect more of the same.

What about you? Do you remember those years of raising young kids, or has your memory conveniently erased the 3:30 AM wake-ups and nuclear-disaster playrooms too? Tell me what you remember in the comments.