Breaking the news

After the excitement of learning that I was going to have more grandchildren, the reality hit!

How am I going to share the love around.

  It was pretty easy having one grand but, now 3!

I worried, how will I ever have enough time and energy for 3. 

 I still wanted to be able to spend time with Nikko. 

 He was now not living in the same house with me.

He now had 3 houses to divide his time his Mom's his Dad's and ours.

I still got to spend lots of time with him while mom worked and most of the summer.

We went on so many adventures the zoo, the park, the amusement park. Our days were full of so many wonders.  New discoveries every time we went out.

Overnights at our Lake house were especially great.  Well, great after he realized he would survive without cable TV or video games.

We were always first at the beach, of course I'm sure no one else was up at 7 am in the summer.

Without moring cartoons to entertain him I had to actually come up with creative ways to spend our days.

We made puzzles, did art work, read stories, listened to stories on tape,  went to the beach,

and had weekly outings.   

Dinosaur Park, the casino arcade, Gillette castle, Mystic seaport, just to name a few.

Our first summer at the lake is when Nikko had to deal with the separation of his parents. 

It was a tough time for all of us so the Lake House was a good place to sort it all out.

We were so lucky to have had the lake house when Nikko was younger.  My new grandchildren won't have that experience and that saddens me.

Ok, back to breaking the news....... Nikko only child only grandchild was so excited to hear that Nantie( Nantie=Nana and auntie mixed together) was having a baby and even double excited to hear it was going to be two.

He was going to be the BIG cousin, how great is that "Now I can have someone to boss around and play with."

He was old enough now at age 8 to understand it all.    Eight years of being the only grandchild 8 years of Nana and Papa all to himself.  When I reminded him that I was also going to be NaNa to the new babies he was a little surprised.

 How can that be "Your my NaNa I think that they should call you something different"

I had to explain to him that they had to call me NaNa it's just another name for grandmother and that is who I will to all my grandchildren.    Or so I thought.................

Who is Stregga?

Stregga??  What does Stregga mean? Who is Stregga

   I used to be myself,  a daughter, sister, student, friend, best friend, 

can't forget employee, coworker.

 Then I was Anthony's wife, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law,  neighbor, Auntie. 

Then I was MOM, then it was Carrie or Chad's Mom.  I was even substitute mom to some of their friends. 

Then it was mother-in-law, and then NaNa.

 Trying to get my first grandson to say something that sounded like grandmother, I wouldn't have cared if he called me any sound that resembled anything close to grandmother.

Somehow (after months of prodding) he came up with what sounded like NaNa it could have been ahgoo but, I swore it was NaNa.

 When I became NaNa  ( quite a bit ahead of schedule).. I always thought there would be a big space between motherhood and grandkids) that I started to really understand what life was all about.

When I became a grandmother all my views on life started to change.   

I realized that who I was wasn't about how much stuff I had or  what size house we lived in or what job I had of even what car I drove. (more about that later)

My first born grandson Nikko taught me so much about life that I missed when I was raising my own kids.

Too bad I couldn't have know this new found joy when my own children were growing up. I remember thinking (and even saying it aloud to my neighbor ) when we were having a really bad day "When do the joys of motherhood come" not knowing that I was living the joys of motherhood. 

I now  know that I wouldn't have cared so much if everything was all tidy in the house (not that it always was). 

 Or, if I felt overwhelmed with the day to day activities that kept me so busy, too busy to enjoy the little things in life that passed by without me seeing them.

Like just sitting and pretending that we were the 3 bears his favorite story that we had to recite daily and had to act it out in our formal living room over and over and over.

Or playing 'I see" while driving.   I see something green what could it be? 

I was so lucky to have Nikko and his parents live with us for the first 3 years of his life.

It was like a grandmothers dream come true.

   All the joys of motherhood but, none of the real responsibility of it!!  

Of course  I did have to learn that there were boundaries!

Actually, I'm still learning that lesson. 

Well, Now lets get to the real Stregga.

When my daughter got married to her wonderful husband he was trying out different names to call me.

I guess my real name just wasn't special enough.  So one day while talking about a Childrens book he saw, I somehow became Stregga (of course it wasn't said in a normal voice it was more like "STRAGAAAAAAAAAAAAA).

So for a few years before they had children he always called me that.

It actually is means some kind of witch craft in Italy.

At first it sounded a little weird to be called Streggaaaaaaaaaa , then it became quite endearing to have my own special title.   

  I of course tell everyone who asks that it means witch.   The good witch of course!!

For a few years no one else was allowed to call me Stregga I'm sure no one else would dare.

Until one day when I was presented a very special book called Strega Nona and the Magic Pasta Pot.

I knew it could only mean one thing I was going to be a grandmother to another lucky baby!!!

Little did I know that day that it was going to be twins!