I'm doing the Dance of Joy!!!
Today is a very special day. It is the 18th birthday of my last godchild. He is of legal age, and I have fufilled all of my obligations. Somewhere along the journey, my husband and I collected 9 of these blessed godchildren, and today, we are done.
The first two were my best friends children, boy and a girl.
The second batch, my niece and nephew
Round three, 2 girls, and the birthday boy, children of friends, and last to join; two more nephews. That's right, 9 kids that we committed to.
We had so many family ad ons to keep track of that we acually have our own accronyms for our little tribe:
BUF: backup family
BUM: backup mom
BUD: backup dad
BUS :backup sister
BUB:backup brother
Too many special days to remember, so we would all get together on one day in the summer to celebrate everyones birthday and recognize their successes throughout the year. This is the only time however that I allowed their parents to be in the same place at the same time. I have spent the last number of years not only fufilling my role as BUM, I was determined to keep these parents alive and well. And I never wanted them in a situation that they could all be ( heaven forbid) wiped out, and I would be the mom of 11.
So my role as Back Up Mom, also has been making sure their parents are healthy and safe. No more trips to Costco to stock up on multi vitamins to distribute. I will no longer inquire about flu shots, how their latest physical went., or E mail them Heart Smart recipes. And now they will be allowed to travel together as a group.
I've been honored by their trust in us, but we are done.
Backup Grandma..... bring it on.