The Grandparents' Room

Having spent 6 weeks on holiday in Sardinia, mum and dad had made plans to call in on us on the way home at the end of July, in what would probably be their last visit before Christmas. We knew this was the perfect opportunity to give them our news, even though I was still only at 9 weeks – doing it over the phone just wouldn’t have been the same. So, we devised what we thought was a cute, original way to tell them in person, without just sitting them down and saying “we have something to tell you”.
Before their arrival last Monday afternoon, we made a sign saying “The Grandparents’ Room” and stuck it on the spare bedroom door. As soon as they arrived and the customary hugs and kisses were out of the way, with more than a little adrenaline pounding through my body, we suggested that they take their bags to the bedroom and make themselves comfortable. Luca and I remained a few feet behind (I was actually hiding behind Luca) and as they reached the door, mum read the sign out loud. “Grandparents’ Room?? What? Who are the Grandpar………..” at which point she broke off mid-sentence as the penny dropped and her face lit up like a Christmas tree. My dad obviously got it right away, but stood behind her with his eyes filling up, as my mum charged at us both, arms splayed shrieking like a – well, like a grandmother-to-be! And what did I do? I started backing towards the door, tugging on Luca’s shirt to get him to cover me, as if I were about to be assaulted by wild natives! No idea why – but mum had to physically grab me in order to start the congratulatory hugging, which went on for a good 10 minutes, followed by an entire evening of pregnancy stories, family history, names and everything else baby related. Although I’m 30 years old, in a stable relationship with the father of my child, and quite ready to go ahead and do this, in that moment I might as well have been 15, coming home from school to confess to my conservative, middle-class parents that I’d been “knocked up” by my latest spotty adolescent boyfriend. That was how it felt! Obviously the reaction and follow-up would have been very different, which made me extra glad not to have to sing “Papa don’t preach”…
Later on that night, after a few glasses of wine, just before bedtime, my dad went over to Luca, shook his hand and said “Well done Luca”. A little bemused by this statement, Luca’s response was “Well done for what?” to which dad replied “You know, just well done”. Not sure what to make of it, but I understand that both grandma and granddad are very happy!