My mother used to say...

“Wait 'til you're a parent.”

This usually followed my comment: “Ma, don't worry, I'll (we'll) be fine,” referring, of course, to a venture I was planning she was sure would be death-dealing or worse.

What she never had the chance to say was : “Wait 'til your a grand-parent, or better still, a great grand-parent.”

These are uncharted waters for those of us blessed to reach those stages of life. Doting grand-parents are a cliche, of course. But great grand-parenting is something else.

First comes the wonder at how we got to this point in the first place. This is followed by an insatiable desire for pictures of the “greats” as we now call them. I've often asked my wife how many of her friends are “clamoring” for the latest pictures of our five great grandchildren. She smiles and asks me to print some more. I do.

They are cute, I have to admit. And since they all live in Israel we have to go to them, which we will be doing in a few weeks. And, don't worry, Ma, we'll be fine.

Of course, I'll be returning with lots of new pictures to show to all those clamoring for them.

Or not.