by Pa Rock
Proud Grandpa
Yesterday I walked to the local park and was able to find a nice private spot at a picnic table. There I relaxed for a few minutes and then decided that it would a good opportunity to try and call some of my grandchildren.
Sebastian, my twelve-year-old grandson in Oregon has his own phone, so I began with him. We talked about school lessons which all of the kids are doing at home during this world health emergency. He said that he has been studying "exponents" in math, but I did not aggressively pursue that bit of information for fear of exposing my ignorance. Then he told me that he has learned all of his state capitals - and that I did want to talk about.
Three summers ago (2017) when Sebastian and his family visited my home in Missouri, I had tried to interest him in learning state capitals, but the effort had not gone well - and now suddenly he said that he has mastered all fifty. He further said that he had learned them with a song. It didn't take much encouragement to get him singing. He quickly rattled off a song that contained all fifty states and their capitals. It was sung to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw."
Judah, my ten-year-old grandson, got on the phone next and told me that he had been playing "Minecraft" and that it was made in the year 2009. (Judah, as it so happens, was also made in the year 2009!) Willow, the boys' younger sister, picked up the phone next. She told me that she was keeping up with her school work and that she missed her friends from school.
After chatting with all three Oregon grandchildren - who live in the state's capital of Salem - which is mentioned in Sebastian's song - I called my eight-year-old granddaughter, Olive, in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City. Olive, like Sebastian, has her own telephone. Olive thanked me for sending her a copy of "The Diary of Anne Frank," (which her daddy had suggested). She said that she was reading it and enjoying it. Her parents will undoubtedly incorporate that important book into her at-home schooling.
Olive's little brother, Sully, did not get on the phone. He is understandably very bored with staying home, and he constantly finds ways to stay active which leave his poor parents exhausted!
I didn't try to call Boone - who will be twenty-one in May and who, like Sully, is growing increasingly bored with staying at home. This pandemic interrupted Boone's junior year in college and disabled his social life. We have exchanged several lengthy emails lately, and I have sent him a couple of my favorite books to help pass the time in a semi-productive manner.
So the good news is that all of the grandkids are safe and making the best out of the current situation - and the bad news is that they are growing frustrated and bored with having no social lives and being stuck at home. They are facing a challenge unlike any that their parents or grandparents ever had to endure, and they will get through it.
But their childhoods have been wounded.
Proud Grandpa
Yesterday I walked to the local park and was able to find a nice private spot at a picnic table. There I relaxed for a few minutes and then decided that it would a good opportunity to try and call some of my grandchildren.
Sebastian, my twelve-year-old grandson in Oregon has his own phone, so I began with him. We talked about school lessons which all of the kids are doing at home during this world health emergency. He said that he has been studying "exponents" in math, but I did not aggressively pursue that bit of information for fear of exposing my ignorance. Then he told me that he has learned all of his state capitals - and that I did want to talk about.
Three summers ago (2017) when Sebastian and his family visited my home in Missouri, I had tried to interest him in learning state capitals, but the effort had not gone well - and now suddenly he said that he has mastered all fifty. He further said that he had learned them with a song. It didn't take much encouragement to get him singing. He quickly rattled off a song that contained all fifty states and their capitals. It was sung to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw."
Judah, my ten-year-old grandson, got on the phone next and told me that he had been playing "Minecraft" and that it was made in the year 2009. (Judah, as it so happens, was also made in the year 2009!) Willow, the boys' younger sister, picked up the phone next. She told me that she was keeping up with her school work and that she missed her friends from school.
After chatting with all three Oregon grandchildren - who live in the state's capital of Salem - which is mentioned in Sebastian's song - I called my eight-year-old granddaughter, Olive, in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City. Olive, like Sebastian, has her own telephone. Olive thanked me for sending her a copy of "The Diary of Anne Frank," (which her daddy had suggested). She said that she was reading it and enjoying it. Her parents will undoubtedly incorporate that important book into her at-home schooling.
Olive's little brother, Sully, did not get on the phone. He is understandably very bored with staying home, and he constantly finds ways to stay active which leave his poor parents exhausted!
I didn't try to call Boone - who will be twenty-one in May and who, like Sully, is growing increasingly bored with staying at home. This pandemic interrupted Boone's junior year in college and disabled his social life. We have exchanged several lengthy emails lately, and I have sent him a couple of my favorite books to help pass the time in a semi-productive manner.
So the good news is that all of the grandkids are safe and making the best out of the current situation - and the bad news is that they are growing frustrated and bored with having no social lives and being stuck at home. They are facing a challenge unlike any that their parents or grandparents ever had to endure, and they will get through it.
But their childhoods have been wounded.
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