I was never ready to be a grandmother
Guys, I’m on the lighter side of 30 and so not ready to be anyone’s grandmother. Well, that’s what I discovered last week when my 16 year old came home, plopped a 2,5kg bundle of joy in my arms and declared “Congratulations! You’re an ouma!” I was never ready. I mean, seriously? A grandmother? Me? Firstly, no thank you, I’m too young. Secondly, no thank you, you’re too young! Thirdly, just no thank you. That is all.
After much debating, he politely let me know that it is in fact a school project, and even if he wanted to ditch the 2,5kg bag of flour (accurately dressed as a bouncing baby by his partner aka “babymama”) he couldn’t because he needed to pass his Life Orientation assignment.
Anyways, I soon got over my feelings of animosity (mainly due to the fact that it’s actually a bag of flour and not a real baby) and we all found ourselves taking turns to hold the “baby” (who is oddly named Germaine for some reason) when Kyle had to go to the loo or wash the dishes. It was pretty awkward… and normal… in a weird way.
The initiative is part of the schools plight to teach students about teenage pregnancy and what it takes to raise a baby. He’s not allowed to leave Germaine without a babysitter. He has to feed Germaine and make sure “he” is clean and “comfortable”. Germaine can’t be left unattended and can’t be stuffed into a school bag. He must be treated like a real life baby and visitation times gets rationed between Kyle and his partner.
When asked how he feels about the project, he said that he already knows all about raising babies because he helps out with his baby brother and sister. It’s true though, he is an amazing big brother to his sibs! I sometimes joke around and call him our ‘deputy parent’. But he soon found out that having your own kid is not the same as helping out with your siblings. He had this to say about the flour baby project: “It doesn’t really affect me but it confirmed that I still only want to have a child when I am married.”
He says that the hardest thing about looking after Germaine is not forgetting the “baby” when he already has a bunch of other things to carry. I was like, yeah buddy, that’s life with kids! Having to juggle everything and still provide your offspring with attention and intentional care. Welcome to my world.
He also says that sharing Germaine with his partner has made him realize that being a married parent is easier than being a single parent. “Single parenthood is tough!” He exclaimed. Followed by a “Mom, you’re a super mommy!” (referring to the first 12 years of his life, pre-Hubstopher, when it was just Kyle and I.)
As for me? Well, Germaine has taught me that I am not ready to be a grandmother. I have too much going on and even though we only help out when needed, this 2,5 kg bag of flour really slows me down. I blame it on the fact that I currently have two kiddies under the age of 4. They need to be grown first, before I can properly celebrate the idea of having grand babies. So let’s chill on the “grandmother” story, well atleast for a couple of more years, okay?
9 Comments
Juwayra
Cool post. Such a great way to teach about teenage pregnancy.
You have a real gentleman there! Keep up the good work Mama!
Karen at MomAgain@40
Such a great initiative. I hope they do it in all the schools. I can’t wait to be a grandmother, but I am a older and my eldest is getting married this year But they don’t have any plans for children just yet!
elsie
I enjoyed reading this! Not ready to be a grandma huh? lol we understand, its great that he got to realize how important parents are and how it is a great responsibility.
Ilhaam
There is a book of the same name called “Flour babies”by Anne Fine which I read when I was in school. Great action on the schools part and great blog!
Faziela
This is so great! I really love this initiative, think I am going to do this with my boys when they grow up. I sure am not ready to be a grandmommy yet lol
Jeannette Wentzel
Congrats on your “first grand child”. Such a fun read. Good to see that they show kids early on how much responsibility a baby can be.
Heather Step
I did a double take when I saw that pic! Very cool project though.
Cherralle
Still shocked you have s grown child and you look like a very very young mommy. Thanks for the light hearted story
Shades
This is so cool and it should be rolled out to all schools in South Africa. I love it.