-How\u2019s the team holding up?\u2013 during the past week, I\u2019d occasionally ping Mom with this question in a Messenger chat or ask over the phone.
\n\u2013Very well \/ great \/ actively,\u2013 one of the answers would reach my ears or eyes.
\n\u2013Don\u2019t worry, just rest,\u2013 the \u201cadd-on\u201d would chime in, appearing out of nowhere.<\/p>\n
In my parents\u2019 house, during the kids\u2019 vacation, life runs like a well-directed action movie. Calm and boredom never set in.
\nThrough every room, there are arranged garages, Lego castles, towers of books, jungles of pencils, markers, and modeling clay. Doll gatherings. And five made-up beds. Sets of shoes and outdoor clothes. Everything \u00d75.<\/p>\n
Here, breakfast smells of freshly made pancakes with strawberries. Cocoa fountains flow. And before those are finished\u2026 my Mom is already coordinating the lunch menu for five grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Halfway through lunch and after tidying the towering pile of dishes\u2026 she\u2019s already spinning around the dinner pots. Watching her from the side\u2026 it looks like someone has installed a motor in her.
\nA motor that buzzes without rest hours, never switches to safe mode.<\/p>\n
Five kids! All fed. Neatly dressed. Occupied with interesting activities. And still spoiled with trips to amusement parks and playgrounds.<\/p>\n
On the weekend, we join the vacationing five\u2014with baby My. Grandchild number six. And Mister Ego. A 30 kg adolescent beast.
\nThe house seems to swell at the seams. The \u201cresident\u201d density increases. Pancake towers for breakfast grow. Lunch stew pots puff up. Dinner meat \u201cslices\u201d elongate.
\nThe whole house buzzes like a giant beehive, with Mom at the center\u2026 taking care of everyone individually.<\/p>\n
And as I pack the bags, she even nudges me with a question:
\n\u2013What, sweetie, should I put in?
\nI assure her, nothing.<\/p>\n
And with our bellies now full, we\u2019re off. Almost imperceptibly, she slips two boxes of farm-fresh eggs into my bag:
\n\u2013Eat these. Healthier than the store ones.<\/p>\n
I glance at my Mom as we say goodbye, waving, thinking that after weeks like this, fatigue should knock me off my feet. But. Yet. She stands there, gathering tears from her eyes into her fists, gesturing to show she\u2019s sad to see us leave. And in her eyes, you can read more clearly than in words:
\n\u2013I\u2019ll be waiting for your return!<\/p>\n
Before leaving our hometown, we brake at the candles lit for my grandparents, who sit on cloud-shaped holders.
\nNext to me, Patricija asks:
\n\u2013Are these your grandparents, Mom?
\nI nod affirmatively.
\n\u2013Did they take care of you too?
\nI nod.
\n\u2013And give you candy?
\n\u2013Yes,\u2013 I nod toward my own childhood memories.
\n\u2013And did they love you like our grandparents love us now?
\nI hug the two kids standing quietly next to me and silently say a \u201cthank you\u201d the size of an elephant in my mind.<\/p>\n
Evening toast:
\nTo GRANDPARENTS.
\nFor whom nothing was ever too hard or impossible because of us, their grandchildren.
\nAnd I can only truly say this as an adult. Watching, marveling at my parents, now six-time grandparents, radiate energy and goodness, enveloping us all. Without rest. Without signs of fatigue.<\/p>\n
V.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-17649","istorija","type-istorija","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija\/17649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/istorija"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}