Too much work, not enough play

I am really grateful that I have a good paying job with an established company.  Having said that, I wish I could just be a stay-at-home grandma.

There's not enough hours in the day to do it all.  Keeping up with work, home, articles for web-based content sites and a weekly newsletter of local family-friendly activities doesn't leave much time for fun.

This grandma just has too much work going on and not nearly enough play.  I manage to squeeze in a few hours here and there of time with the kids and grandkids, but think how much more fulfilling life could be if I could capture those 40 plus hours each week.

Here's a list of the top 10 things I'd do if I were a stay-at-home grandma.

1. Have each of my grandkids over alone once a week.  It wouldn't have to be a sleepover, just some quality one-on-one time together.  While I'm on this topic, I'd love to find time in all of our schedules for one-on-one time with each of my grown kids and stepkids every week too.
2. Have a family dinner once a week for whoever could make it.  When my kids were younger, we did family dinners most of the time.  As they got older, Sunday family dinners took place every few weeks.  Now that they're all grown and mostly on their own, it's harder to coordinate schedules.
3. Call my Mom and Dad daily.  My parents live far away and I don't get to see them often.  I call from time to time, but not nearly often enough.
4. Call my siblings at least once a week.  Like my parents, all seven of my siblings live far from me.  I try to visit my parents a couple of times a year and see the sibs who live close by but don't see the others much at all.  Too many miles separate us.  I'm thankful for Facebook to keep up with photos of their families.  
5. Spend more time with my husband.  Yeah, I know it's bad that he only made #5 on the list but what can I say.  My husband is great and a real keeper!  He's on the road every day and out of town several days each week.  In my perfect, stay-at-home grandma world, I'd ride with him from time to time, maybe even once a week.
6. Write a daily blog about whatever I wanted and not care if anyone but me reads it.  I write lots of articles, but they are mostly geared toward attracting readers.  Okay, I'll admit that this was higher on the list, but I had to rewrite my priorities, just as all of us often do in real life.  
7. Make time for prayer every day.  Not just a fast prayer for a friend in need, but really deep talk with God.  Along with this, I'd love to make time to go to Mass during the week. 
8. Make cookies...often.  I have always loved making cookies, but cookie making has become an occasional thing that I do at Christmas instead of a weekly fun activity.
9. Try more new recipes.  I'm doing well most days to cook anything!  Once in a while, I put something in the crockpot, but it would be nice to have time to actually cook.
10. Spendover nights with the grandkids every week.  Although I've enjoyed many, many spendovers with my three grandkids over the years, it's tougher to do as they get older.  

Okay, that's my perfect stay-at-home grandma list.  I'll have to print this off to save for that Oh Happy Day when I can some day retire.

Until then, I'll take what I can get when I can get it and do the best I can to face each day with a smile on my face, a prayer on my lips and a song in my heart.

Blogging Grandma Sandy signing off for now.  Here's me and my husband with our five grown kids.  Yeah, there's always one in every crowd!