A Child's Perspective Matters
Children have a big job. They need to teach adults important life lessons. Children have a different view – a whole other mindscape. During a family vacation, two-year-old Ella carefully wrapped her stuffed bear in a blanket, grabbed a small doll and headed down a path through the woods. Ella’s parents are observant and quickly chased her down. Her father explained to Ella she was not to leave the cabin alone. Ella looked at her father and then at her stuffed bear and doll. “ I wasn’t alone Daddy. I had two friends with me.”
The adoring grandparents live in Minneapolis. The grandson lives in Oregon. With great regularity, using a spiffy technological gadget, the grandparents can have lengthy conversations with the grandson via computer. The little boy sits in front of the computer, able to look and talk at length with his grandma and grandpa. The grandparents can see their grandson on their computer. Recently grandma flew to Oregon in need of a face to face meeting and long awaited hugs. As she walked into the home, her grandson came running. “Mommy! Mommy! Someone let grandma out of the box. Grandpa lives there alone now.”
A few Sundays ago Jack cleared things up for me. We often go on adventure walks. A pond near our home is filled with turtles, frogs, ducks, and bugs. Jack and I like to snoop around the pond after Sunday dinner. I take my grandmother role quite seriously. I was busy explaining important scientific truths. I talked about the water coming down the gutter. We then followed the water down the side of the street and observed how it would flow into the pond. We crawled around the large concrete pipe through which the water flows. We always carry plastic bags to clean up any trash before it gets to the pond. I talked about ducks and migration and ecology. I told Jack everything important from a grandmother’s perspective.
That’s when Jack picked up a long stick that had dropped from a nearby tree. “ Grandma,” he said. “I need this stick. I am going to catch clouds with it.”
The rest of the walk we talked about clouds and what unusual shapes they had. The rest of the walk Jack shared what he saw with me.
Brian Andreas said, “ Most people don’t know there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don’t get too comfortable and fall asleep and miss your life.” I think children are those angels. Listen to children. Be sure to stay tuned.
The adoring grandparents live in Minneapolis. The grandson lives in Oregon. With great regularity, using a spiffy technological gadget, the grandparents can have lengthy conversations with the grandson via computer. The little boy sits in front of the computer, able to look and talk at length with his grandma and grandpa. The grandparents can see their grandson on their computer. Recently grandma flew to Oregon in need of a face to face meeting and long awaited hugs. As she walked into the home, her grandson came running. “Mommy! Mommy! Someone let grandma out of the box. Grandpa lives there alone now.”
A few Sundays ago Jack cleared things up for me. We often go on adventure walks. A pond near our home is filled with turtles, frogs, ducks, and bugs. Jack and I like to snoop around the pond after Sunday dinner. I take my grandmother role quite seriously. I was busy explaining important scientific truths. I talked about the water coming down the gutter. We then followed the water down the side of the street and observed how it would flow into the pond. We crawled around the large concrete pipe through which the water flows. We always carry plastic bags to clean up any trash before it gets to the pond. I talked about ducks and migration and ecology. I told Jack everything important from a grandmother’s perspective.
That’s when Jack picked up a long stick that had dropped from a nearby tree. “ Grandma,” he said. “I need this stick. I am going to catch clouds with it.”
The rest of the walk we talked about clouds and what unusual shapes they had. The rest of the walk Jack shared what he saw with me.
Brian Andreas said, “ Most people don’t know there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don’t get too comfortable and fall asleep and miss your life.” I think children are those angels. Listen to children. Be sure to stay tuned.
Labels: parent/child relationship- grandmother- life lessons
posted by Ada at
12:36 PM
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