Sunday, January 31, 2010

Thank Heaven for Post-Menopausal Females!

Fact: Most female animals don't have a post-menopausal life. Literally. They reproduce and then they die. Very few animals have been known to reach and live beyond menopause, and a lot of them were raised in captivity. It seems that female animals aren't much use after they are done having babies.

Then, we have the humans. Our post-menopausal females can live just as long past menopause as they did before menopause. Some scientists might argue that humans never have and were never meant to live beyond their reproductive years, and that post-menopausal life is a relatively new phenomenon in modern humans. Evolutionists might say that those women with a longevity trait were able to help their offspring take care of their offspring, thus increasing their grandchildren's survival rate and the post-menopausal woman's own fitness, and passing on the longevity trait to more people generation after generation until the grandmother eventually evolved. And yet others might say grandmas didn't evolve, grandmas were created.

All I know is, as a stay at home mom, I see grandmas everywhere! I see grandmas at the store pushing shopping carts with babies inside. I see grandmas waiting to get their grandchildren after school. I see grandmas take grandchildren to dance and other sporting events. I see grandmas driving with grandchildren in car seats behind them. I see grandmas eating out with grandchildren. I see grandmas on walks with grandchildren. I see grandmas taking grandchildren to the doctor. Grandmas sure are active people.

Grandmas travel across continents to help their children paint their house or take care of babies.
Grandmas run your errands for you.
Grandmas travel through all sorts of weather at all hours of the night because the mothers are sick or are having a bad day or mothers have to go to the hospital because their water broke (or thought their water broke, but they really just maybe might have wet themselves, a little).
Grandmas use their retirement money to send care packages to grandchildren that live far away.
Grandmas cook impromptu meals, just because you say you are coming over, and you're starving.
Grandmas let you leave their house with their leftovers, even though they were hoping to not have to cook the next day.
Grandmas take care of you, even when they are sick and no one is taking care of them.
Grandmas sacrifice vacation time to take care of their grandkids while their own kids go on vacation.
Grandmas sacrifice their comfort and lifestyle and sometimes their retirement to take in their wayward children's children.

And I bet if you ask any grandma why she does these things, the last thing that crosses her mind is to increase her own fitness. The first things that cross her mind, however, would be how she feels when she receives chubby hugs and messy kisses and hears tiny voices over the phone that say, "I wub you, Damma!"

If you know a grandma, show your appreciation. She's technically not even supposed to be here :) Sure, they are post-menopausal and can be a little moody at times, but we are lucky enough to be the only species that gets them, so we need to just love them, because they truly are a gift from God.

(To the grandmas in my life: Yes, this is my special way of saying "Thank you!")

7 comments:

Brownie Bites said...

I just did my make-up and now my mascara is running. Thanks a lot good friend. You just described my mom.

Brooke said...

=) This made me happy.

I was lucky to have my wonderful grandmother for 14 years. I still miss her but I've felt her around when I've needed her most. Then I was really lucky to inherit another wonderful grandmother when I married my husband. There's nothing more comforting than a grandmother's hug!

Dustin and Laura said...

What a great post! I think you're hilarious.

Courtney said...

A fabulous post. I'm sending a link to your blog to all of the grandmas in my life.

Deanna E. said...

That was wonderful! My grandma was like a kid up until the day she died! She would go crazy with firecrackers...she would stand on her patio, throw a burning cracker into her flower bed and blow up her geraniums---while laughing her guts out! I hid behind grandpa...

Jamie said...

Maybe this is why women live longer than men. My Grandma definitely played a vital part in my growing-up years and I really depend on my kid's grandmas to do the same for them!

*MARY* said...

I love grandparents, all grandparents. Especially mine and my husbands. My husband was completely raised by his grandparents, he hardly ever saw his own mother.
Grandparents are the best.