just one of the Mamas

We went to the Grand Canyon to celebrate my birthday… my daughter, Lori, her daughters, Aleah and JoJo and Aleah's two children, 6 year old Maddie and 6 month old Yayshee. Four generations of mothers and daughters and one sweet baby boy.

Though Aleah is the mother of two she looks very young and I tend to think of her as "one of the kids."

We had a great time for two days and three nights then we packed the SUV for the drive home.

Lori was driving and I rode shotgun. No sooner were the doors closed and the seat belts fastened than I heard an ear splitting scream and the cry, "BUG!"

Next thing I knew there was a pair of long legs and a lot of blond hair flying over the seat and JoJo was sitting in my lap, screaming into my face, "BUG!" as if somehow I didn't know what that word meant! Maddie was hot on her heels! I got clipped in the head by a pair of pink and white sneakers! Ouch! I opened the door, the girls tumbled out and flew across the parking lot screaming at the top of their lungs, stamping their feet and flapping their hands!

Unfortunately, every last one of is afraid of bugs! Seriously. Still someone had to be adult and take control of the situation.

Lori, Aleah and I opened the back and began to look for the bug, knowing full well we would never find it in all the blankets, jackets, bags, and suitcases. We looked at each other, shaking our heads. "You know we're never going to get out of Arizona tonight, don't you?" I asked. They nodded.

We shuffled things around a little more then Aleah made the decision on her own. She grabbed a Kleenex, scooped up a non existent bug and dramatically screamed her way across the parking lot to throw it in the trash. She dusted her hands and said, "Okay! Problem solved! Everybody get in the car!" The girls climbed in, satisfied the bug was gone and we took off. Only Lori, Aleah and I knew that bug was still somewhere in the car.

It was at that moment I realized Aleah is no longer "one of the kids." My baby, my granddaughter, has become one of the "Mamas."