Granny again

Granny again - this time it's number 5. Good number. My daughter is the mum-to-be. Even better. I thought she had decided not to have children; she thought I would not approve if she got going any earlier.

    WATCH WHAT YOU SAY TO YOUR KIDS - you never know how your words will be taken. But ultimately the kids do what they want & that is just as it should be.

    Now the words have been said & the baby is on the way. My first thought was, "Yikes - I'm going to be an old granny," my second was pure elation & that's still IT.

    We live in the best & the worst of times. Our poor old earth groans under the weight of us all; we're changing the climate, chopping down the forests & overfishing the oceans. And we know it. So we are also recycling paper, metal & general garbage, replanting the forests & imposing some stiff environmental standards on shipping & fishing. Young people can't be bothered to remember anything by heart because they go around wired to their smartphones & computers, but Avaaz can collect a million signatures to let politicians & law enforcement - most recently India's new prime minister, who is not too concerned about gang rapes - know they can't hide anymore & just-plain-people power can unseat tyrants too. Not every time, for sure - check out Syria - but before everybody got connected it was almost never.

    It's the best & worst world our grandchildren take over, but they know more than ever before & when they have wonderful parents they will be empowered & ready. (The ones with rotten parents will be part of the problem, as always, but there is more effort to help now.) That's how I see it - even though I'm a granny who tends to worry. On the other hand, is there any other kind? There is still no finer word than "grandparent".