Gweppy rocks

Something amazing was seeing my wife as the mother of my children for the first time. She was the same woman I had always loved, but now the love had been given this three-dimensional quality. Not only did I love her because she loved me, but because she loved this new mysterious person we had brought into the world together.

It has been something like this watching my mom become grandmother to my girls. Early on, she was clear that she was too young to be called "Grandma," but would go by the moniker "Gweppy," a random name I made up for her as a kid. In honor of her birthday on Sunday, here are just a few reasons why my mom rocks as Grandm--as "Gweppy," that is.

• She stockpiles snails for the girls to play with whenever they come over.
• The last time we dropped the girls off for our weekend getaway, our daughters were shooing us away so they could get on with the grandparents play. This is a good sign.
• At the end of such a weekend the girls often have more clean laundry than we brought in the first place.
  
• She just got new carpet in the house and still lets our girls hang out there.
• She works her butt off playing with them.
• When we're over, she takes care of her four boys (you can't forget my Dad) and my three girls with an incredible grace.
• She builds Lincoln Log cabins.
• She still likes to color.
• She is great at puzzles.
• She feeds them squash and healthy stuff--and they like it.
• She makes Christmas incredible.
• She disciplines them.
  
• She throws a bath party every time they stay with her, which our girls ask for regardless of how recently we've bathed them.
• She and my Dad give us a great play-by-play of the girls' cute quotes and activities whenever we pick them up.
• She pulls them in the wagon till she's dizzy.
• She leaves the pop-up sprinklers strategically popped up when she knows we're coming over, so her granddaughters can push them down.
• She is low-drama to no-drama, essential among my little drama princesses.
• She knows not what it means to complain about hard work.

The list goes on. In a nutshell, she loves her family with all her heart and mind and strength and soul. And somehow, she has come up with more love the more family we've given her. For that, I love you more than ever, Gweppy.