Grandchildren 101
I saw the headline to an article the other day: what I have
learned from my children. While I think about that I decided
I would post something about my grandchildren.
I saw the better part of them yesterday so their
personalities were fresh on my mind. I tried to
think of a quality each one has. I realized that
many qualities are shared by them collectively.
But I narrowed down a quality for each one.
~
MEGAN
She is kind.
Last year she won a very
big award in her middle school. She was
singled out as the one most kind to the
other students. I didn't see her at school
but when I have been with her she shows
a lot of patience towards her siblings.
I know there are probably bad days but
overall her attitude is creating harmony.
She really is tender and kind.
MELANIE
She is a friend.
I went to school with Melanie on
Grandparents day last year. I was
impressed with the number of children
she called her friends. I was especially
impressed with the girl we sat and ate
our lunch with. She seemed to me to
be physically weak and quiet. Not someone
you would like to run and scream with.
But this was Melanie's friend.
Melanie is my friend too.
JETT
He is passionate.
Jett loves garbage trucks. Really
loves garbage trucks. He watches
their every movement and tries to
imitate those movements with his
trucks. He knows side loaders from
back loaders. He makes little piles of
trash so he can scoop them up and
haul them away.
How nice it would be to have passion.
Even if, for now, it is a garbage truck.
QUINN
He is exacting.
Quinn has always been a man
of detail. He loves to play board games.
Although, I have seen him make up
a rule every now and then, overall
the game is meant to be played exactly
as the rules state.
Quinn plays baseball. His mom said
he learned to bat by the book.
Maybe that was by the coach. He
bats exactly as the form is taught.
I never could figure out how to
bat well. Quinn understands the
mechanics of batting.
He is exacting in his love
for doing what is right.
You try and do right and
that is all there is to it.
PARKER
Her heart anticipates.
When I go to Arkansas or when
Parker comes here she runs to me
and kisses me. I know she has
spent time thinking about my
arrival or her arrival.
She always asks her mom what
is going to happen today and in
what order and when and who
and what. (In this way she is
very much like her mother.)
I love that she looks forward to
to arrival of people she loves.
PAISLEY
She has tenacity.
Paisley has semi-paresis. She was
born with a heart condition that was
repaired as a new born but she had a stroke
brought on by the whole process.
But don't tell her she can't do things.
She has started preschool and her
mom had a parent teacher conference.
Paisley is one of the best in the class
and she even excels in many physical
skills.
ABBEY
She loves the world around her.
We went to the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum
last March for an Easter Picnic. Abbey
took me around to all the plants and
told me all about them. She taught
me a lot! She had been learning about
the desert and its plants and chose
me to share all her knowledge with.
MIKE
A brother is for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17
I can group Mike and Ben together to
explain why I chose this scripture to
describe Mike. They are good friends.
They have each other. They are
partners in crime, etc. But I think it
is Mike that has let Ben be his right
hand man. And he will be that brother
"for adversity" if ever that time comes.
BEN
He is loyal.
I think he would
fall on the sword for Mike.
. Probably for anyone in his
family. But it is my observation of
Ben and Mike that leads me to
believe Ben will be loyal to
those he loves.
I have seen his eyes light up
when Mike walks into the room.
BODE
He takes care of the little things.
I love this about Bode. I love it because
he does something that I did when I
was a child. He makes sure every
stuffed animal has a place to sleep
in his bed every night.
He loves small stuffed animals.
They are just as important to him
as any of the larger stuffed friends
that he has.
Little things can make all the
difference.
LAINE
When ye have done it unto the
least of these . . .
Laine started preschool this year. It is
in the public school system. It is set up
to help children with learning disabilities get
a head start. They accept several children
who have no disabilities to be examples.
That is Laine. She is the only child in
her class without a learning challenge.
Recently she went with her dad to Utah
and missed a couple days of school.
Before she left she told her mom she
was worried that the children
would not have her there to help them.
She love them.
PIPER
Family is belonging
All of my grandchildren have a
"warming up" period with me.
Piper's was longer than most.
I wondered if she would ever
decide to like me.
We went to visit once a while
back and Bode and Laine were
all over me. . . talking to me
and showing me stuff and
loving me and all of a sudden
Piper came over (she wasn't talking
much yet) and just rubbed up against
me and did until I got the message that
she wanted to belong too.
DAISY
Home is where the heart is.
When Daisy learned to talk she
just talked in sentences. She likes
to talk and I enjoy her talk. She sounds
so full of life.
The fun thing she said, until she
realized she could use pronouns was
"Let's go to Daisy's house. I want
to play with Daisy's toys. Daisy
is hungry. Daisy this and Daisy that.
"Daisy" belonged in this home.
A man and a woman can live in
a house. But it becomes home when
a child is brought in.
THE BABIES
ROCKWELL
DASH
LOTTIE
They teach sacrifice and
hope all at the same time.
It is amazing to me the sacrifice
that it takes to bake up a baby,
deliver it and then spend the
rest of your life praying for
the happiness of that child.
You go from being run over
by a freight train to giving all
you have and are to make a human
being out of a baby. And all the
time feeling hope in the world
because babies are the proof
that life goes on.
Each time a new baby is born and
becomes a member of this family
I am pleased. It takes faith to have
children. Faith in a source of help
greater than your own and faith in
yourself that you can do it.
The most important quality in
parenting is love. When they are
loved they grow into good people.
And that is what I see in these
qualities. Some more simple than
others but all developmental to
the personality of each child.
It is amazing to watch them grow.
