I remember when I found out that I was going to be a grandma for the first time. It’s an almost surreal experience. On one hand, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t have been happier. I was probably out shopping for baby clothes and blankets within two hours of hearing the news, and I don’t know that I stopped until my little grandbaby was brought home. Being a mom myself, I was able to watch my daughter as she went through her first pregnancy, and understand her worries, her joys, her frustrations. It’s hard to describe the feeling of watching your baby prepare for a baby of her own. It’s exciting, joyful, excruciating and sad all at the same time. This, more than anything else, meant that she was all grown up.

And then, when that first grandbaby came home, I experienced the rush of unconditional love all over again. If you have children, you know what I’m talking about. It’s overpowering; it knocks the wind out of you. I thought about that child all the time. I wanted to hold her, I wanted to feed her, I wanted to watch her sleep. She was the sweetest and most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. And while I helped out when my daughter needed to catch up on her sleep, when she absolutely needed a break, a minute to just be by herself again, I also had that trump card that grandparents usually have: I got to go home.

Let’s be honest here. Parenting is hard work, and I didn’t want to delve into that job full-time again. The joy of being a grandparent is tied to the fact that you get all that unconditional love, all the sweetness, all the fun, but only a small part of the responsibility. And that’s a good thing, because another truth that becoming a grandparent brings home to you almost immediately is this: you’re not as young as you used to be.

Here’s a snapshot of my emotions upon finding out I would soon be Grammie: joy, excitement, an overpowering urge to buy tiny socks, and then…shock. Growing up, my Grammie was always at home, ready to bake cookies, play games, and read stories. She was always available to watch us when mom and dad needed an evening out. We spent weeks at a time at Grammie’s house during the summer, basking in the unconditional love that guaranteed us late bedtimes, ice cream for dinner, and family ghost stories that mom had ruled too frightening for young children. But here’s the point…Grammie was home. Grammie was not at work. And I had years of working life ahead of me. Retirement had never seemed so far away.

It’s surprising what will make you take a step back and examine your life, your plans, and your goals. Having a child is certainly a milestone for an adult, but having a grandchild was even more of one for me. It really emphasized to me that I’m now in a place where I need to focus on my future. For me that meant making definite plans for retirement, instead of just dreams and hopes. It meant meeting with my financial advisor regularly. It meant getting serious about the stage of life that I’m in right now. After all, if I’m going to live up my Grammie’s memory, I’m going to need a little more free time. I’m Retiring Tina, and I still have some work to do.