Learning from babies

There are few thing as wonderful as a baby, asleep in the arms of his or her mother.  And I speak as a father and grandfather.  While I loved holding my babies, and now grandbabies, Mom is home.


And there are a few things we learn by watching this child sleeping there.  First, total and complete trust.  Even Aunts and Uncles, Grandfathers or fathers don't share that.  We're OK.  But Mom is home.


We lose that sense of trusting early enough on.  I'm not suggesting we lose faith in our parents...or in trust.  That child is so at ease where he or she is as to rest completely.  Was your rest, say, last night, as total?


My wife works at a daycare, and in the afternoon, I arrive to take her home.  Almost every time, there is a 'care' on the children's eyes.  Some, though they have seen me a number of times before, burst into tears.  Now, I'm not a troll or monster.  I am tall and have a deep voice, but not a terror.  :-)


There's also the 'theology' of comfort.  You can see discomfort in the eyes if little children quickly and bluntly.  Even later, football players, when the camera looks their way, mouth "Hi Mom."  Why?  Mom is the very picture of comfort, and the sense of being at home.


The child, the baby know what we have forgotten.  As a grandfather, I am learning from my grandsons to make my voice and demeanor a place of comfort and total care.  Will that happen all the time?  Sadly, no.  My voice will get too loud, or maybe it's a bad day for the baby.  

But...I'm learning.

-Grandpa George

Yet another cool grandparenting quote...

Truth be told, there's nothing better than being a grandparent. All our elders know this and it is evidenced by that twinkle in their eyes. Of course, they know more than they let on—life's secrets have come to them through time, experience, and patience. ~author unknown

They are precious in His sight...

Do you remember the song they taught in Sunday schools, "Jesus loves the little children"?  I don't remember a time I didn't.  When was the last time you sang it?

Maybe the better question is, in what ways are your grandchildren precious.

Within the first year after our second child arrived, I went to my wife, concerned that she was no nearly as quick and bright as child #1.  Boy, was I wrong.  My wife produced a calendar when each move forward for the child was kept.  It showed me that the two children were just different.  Differences are wonderful...unless you're a control-freak.  Even there, you are making yourself God.

I need that lesson.  Each is very different from the other.  That continued with numbers 3 and 4 as well.  I rejoice in the children I have, each different from the other.

I learned a term for the 21st century - 'Helicopter parents'.   They hover closely overhead, rarely out of reach, whether their children need them or not. In Scandinavia, this phenomenon is known as curling parenthood and describes parents who attempt to sweep all obstacles out of the paths of their children.  It is also called "overparenting".  Can there be helicopter (curling) grandparents as well? 

I must also take that lesson into the lives, personalities, and circumstances of my grandchildren.  What makes them precious is God's love for each one.  My older grandson has an affable and fun personality.  Miles is 18 months and fun to Skype with. 

My other grandson (C.J.) is about to turn three months old, and his personality is already coming through, even on Skype.  We've had fun watching his personality show itself already.

Each different from the other.  Thank God.  There is not one He is unconcerned about.  We need to show to our grandchildren that they are precious..period.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Black and yellow, red and white
They're all precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

 -Grandpa George

Another cool grandparent quote...

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.  ~Author Unknown

Another cool Grandparent quote...

"Grandparents, like heroes, are as necessary to a child's growth as vitamins."

-Joyce Allston

How are your grandchilden remembering you?

What would your grandchild list as the thinks you taught them?  What makes you memorable other than your title - grandpa/grandma?

How do you want to be remembered? Is it a treat or a 'trick' (read that 'burden') to go to grandpa's house?

Think back toy our grandparents and remember the old adage 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".  True for you?

I'm the only one of my siblings who has an memory of my Grandmother Fincke...but I do have memories...positive memories, though she died in my 4th year.

In the craziness of our times, are you an oak to them, the very picture of what they want to be when they grow up.  My Grandfather Patterson is that to me.  He was a hard-working, smart and funny man.  I owe so much to him.  He is on the top row, center (I'm the geek at the left, bottom in 1965)

You will be remembered.  It's a matter of how you purpose the grandchildren to remember you. The child may be the one to 'name' you (Both my grand-dads were called Pop in my home), but you and I are more mature (I hope. :-) to direct their thinking about you and your family.

Pray for your grandchildren today!

-Grandpa George

Grandpa's movies - Some DVD's and Blueray ideas

I live movies.  All kinds of movies.  But, I'm writing about and for my grandkids, not me.  What makes going to Grandpa's special?

And...in one area - videos.  I'm not an anti-entertainment kinda guy.  But so much on TV and DVD is just falsehood, or exaggeration,  or propaganda - oh, read it as 'crap'.  There's got to be a better way.  Not perfect, but interesting for them and you.

The physical world has plenty to be both instructional and interesting...honesty interesting. Immediately when talking about the natural world it offers questions of origins (creation) because some offer an evolutionary scheme as a crazy southern evangelist offers salvation - his way and only his way.  Just be mindful.  And, we may not agree on what is too 'evangelistic', but....

Also, make sure you purchase the proper format for your machine.  Right now it's DVD and Blue-ray.  Also remember the young the child, the shorter the attention span.  :-)

There are a few worth talking about.  The BBC series, "Planet Earth", narrated by David Attenbourgh.  It is an 11-part series shot entirely in high-definition: From Pole to Pole, Mountains, Fresh Water, Caves, Deserts, Ice Worlds, Great Plains, Jungles, Shallow Seas, Seasonal Forests, Ocean Deep.  Stunning.

Another set that came the same year is "Nature: The World of Nature Set".  This six-disc box set includes Europe's Enchanted Lands, Africa's Incredible Hulks, Alaska, Antarctica, Wild Side of Paradise, and Extreme Lands of the Americas.

I have grandsons, and I know they love trains of all sorts.  They are guys, after all!  Videos like Real Trains for Kids is fun.  Or Train Crazy Kids or Locomotion - The Amazing World of Trains.

Add airplanes.

OK, these are a few ideas.  But...what are yours?  Let me know.

-Grandpa George