I am not being racist . . . I am making a point. Living in South Florida most of our under paid, unappreciated and hardest working people are from Guatemala. I doubt that most of them are here legally but that fact does not come in to play when you are looking for a good, hard worker to clean your house, landscape your property or watch your children. I have yet to meet a single obnoxious person from this third world country. They work hard at what ever it is they are doing but no one acknowledges their existence. They are invisible to the world unless they screw up. They are here to make money to send back to their families so that those left in Guatemala can have slightly better lives.
My point today is the un appreciated part of the lives of these people because this weekend I am getting a taste of what it must feel like to be in their shoes. I am spending the weekend at my daughter's house,"babysitting" her two children ages 14 and 11. It is interesting to say the least. I see these kids all the time and have been very involved with their lives since the day they were born. They are, after all, my daughter's kids and that makes them even more special. (There's something about my daughter's daughter that tugs at my heart.) I adore all my grandkids and because I spend more time with these two I am more involved in their every day lives.
BUT . . . Up until now these grand kids have been exactly that . . . KIDS . . . suddenly I am dealing with a teen age girl and a pre pubescent boy. OI !!!!!! I mean, I had 3 kids, they were all teenagers but this is a whole different world. Between cell phones and video games I have not had a conversation of more than three words with either of them. And those words were squeezed in between commercials, calls and running, jumping, shooting in the video game. (These video games are horrid !!!!!!) I have NO idea what the purpose of al the running and jumping is but Finn seems to know what he's doing. I love it when he says, "Watch this grandma . . . " I haven't got a clue what the hell I"m watching, which character is the one being controlled by Finn or what the point of all this is. But I nod and throw in a "WOW" every so often and that seems to make the boy happy.
As for the teenage girl . . . HOLY CRAP !!!! When my kids were teens they came home from school, grabbed a snack form the kitchen, grunted a hello to me and went into their rooms to do God knows what while blasting U2 or New Kids On The Block tunes. There would be some occasional drama but for the most part life was pretty simple. NOW . . . I think the cell phone is a permanent part of the girls anatomy. It seems to have grown right into the palm of her hand so that she never has to look for it. (On average I loose my cell phone 10 times a day. Most of the time I don't know where it is so when it rings I have to run around like an idiot following the sound of it ringing.)
This morning I was in the kitchen making our traditional "breakfast with grandma" chocolate chip pancakes when The Girl blew into the room. Finn had already humored me by eating a pancake, I think he would have much rather not eaten anything but being the good kid he said "yes" to my offer to cook. Kaelin plopped down on the couch in the den, phone in one hand and video controller in the other because her brother had put the game controller down in order to eat. There were a minimum of 4 conversations going on at one time none of which I was included in. Kae and Finn were talking, Finn was on his hand held game thing talking to his friend who was God knows where but playing the same game, (I didn't know they could talk to other players through the game thingy.) (I AM A DINOSAUR) Kaelin was talking on her phone while also talking with someone through her game controller. I just wanted to have breakfast with my grandkids and talk but that apparently is not an option. At one point I walked into the den and told them to shut off EVERYTHING and come eat and speak with me. I felt like an ogre but I just needed to connect with them.
We briefly discussed what they had in mind for the day . . . none of which included me . . . and they went back to talking on hand held devices.
I am feeling like a Guatemalan Nanny who exists but is not seen or heard from. I miss my grand kids ! Could I have insisted they stay home and do something with me . . . Sure . . . but none of us would have been happy. It's a different world with totally different norms. I still want to be the "Cool" grandma so if that means letting them have their space to grow in this insane world then that is what I will do.
I am here ALONE at their house, sitting outside in the sun, writing blogs and playing on MY iPad. I have asked The Lord to watch over my grand kids just like I used to do when my children were out and about on their own. I trust that between The Lord and the kids smarts they will stay safe throughout the day.
In the mean time I am REALY enjoying my quiet, ALONE time.
Oh, and by the way . . . have no fear that I will gain 20 pounds from sitting around doing nothing. ALL the snacks in my daughter's home are either gluten free, lactose free or non GMO. Other than the 500 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in the living room that my grand daughter is selling there isn't a single thing in the entire house that doesn't taste and look like soggy cardboard.
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