The Three Minute Grandparent

The Three Minute Grandparent: Needs Grandparents have needs; we never grow out of it.  We continue to need from the moment of our births to the very second we leave this earth.  As babies, we needed constant care by an adult who was able to give food, clothing, warmth, love, and cleaning up after our messiness.  As children we continued with the previous needs and added to those supervision, training and guidance.  This particular Grandpa needed much in the way of supervision and guidance and it came from two very loving parents.  This child tried the patience of his Mom and Dad on a daily basis with his curiosity and sometimes mischief.  Two sisters were the targets of many mischievous experiments; fortunately they have since forgiven him.  As teenagers, we continued needing a firm hand of guidance with a sense of freedom.  This requires almost superhuman understanding from the parent; a knowledge of each child helps in imposing limits while ...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Have you heard about me? Everyone wants to be known.  Everyone wants his/her name to be familiar to someone.  Have you heard about me?  Do you know what I did?  Did you know that I am famous?  A friend told us about her youngest child and his problems at school.  Seems this child has a short fuse and is long on defending himself.  When someone at the lunch table said something threatening to young short-fuse, he replied with, “I don’t like that! Have you heard about me?”  Grandma and I had a good laugh at this, knowing the family as fairly peaceable folks, and then I began to think about being known.  As grandparents, we have been known by our first and last names, we have been known as (our children’s) parents; “Hi Sam’s Mom” etc, we are now known as “The Grandparents.”  This is an exciting time for us….Grandparents. What a wonderful designation!  Loving children is thrilling.  Loving grandchil...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Automated Phone Systems “Thanks for calling the Busy Bank Automated Phone System.  For the loan department, press 1; for deposits, press 2; for withdrawals, press 3, for your current balance, press 4, to actually speak to a live person, press 5.”  We all love these automated systems and we get them every day.  Most of us press 0 repeatedly trying to get to a live person…like that is going to happen!  Can you imagine this system being used by a family?  “Thanks for calling the happy Smith Family, to speak to Mom, press 1, to speak to Dad, press 2; to speak to Junior, press 3; to speak to Sally, press 4; to speak to Fido, Oh never mind, just come on over.”  This Grandpa began to wonder about the possibilities of use with a busy Mother and 4 children, perhaps this is how it would work.  “Thanks for calling Mom, for help with homework, press 1; for medical help, press 2; for dinner and snack inquiries, press 3; for a hug o...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Angela The wait was long and this Grandpa was tired.  Grandma arrived at the hospital early in the morning for what should have been a fairly quick delivery.  She was prepped and already propped up in bed waiting for the inevitable contractions to begin, so we waited…and waited….and continued waiting.  The TV suddenly came alive with news of an attempt on the life of then Pope John Paul 2; was this a subliminal message of some sort?  How did this message relate to a delivery date in Harris Hospital?  We continued waiting and talking with our Pastor David.  The excitement grew as we anticipated the arrival of our second child; Boy? Girl? We did not know, as the ultrasound was still in its infancy.  The time finally arrived as did our little…..girl, Angela.  I held her and knew that she was mine!  Mine forever!  As she grew, holding became hugs and finally she was held by another, our Son in law, David....

The Three Minute Grandparent: Mother “You are a nice lady,” was the writing that my 6 yr old Mother’s Day card held.  I meant this with all of my heart because my Mother was and still is a nice lady.  She has been brave enough to support me through all of life’s actions, and yet, still loves me.  She has encouraged me through very difficult times, offered wise advice for many of my trying times, and remained loyal to me even when disagreeing with me.  Her encouragement began when a very trying and busy first born child entered her life.  Extended family members viewed me as “bad and in need of a spanking.”  Mother’s view was pre-ADHD but full of ADHD understanding in guiding this very busy child.  She tied bells on my shoes to keep track of my wanderings throughout the house and when the bells stopped ringing, she came running to check on me.  She allowed me to feed my pet dog, Pal, hearing me say, “One for you and one for me,” discovering Pal ...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Rhonda Will you love her?  Cherish her?  Provide for her as long as you shall live?  I will.  With those words, I sealed my love and desire to marry Rhonda Cribbs almost 39 years ago.  Within 4 years she became Mother to the first of our 4 children and continued to establish the home that began with our marriage.  Rhonda came from an abusive home where she was mistreated by her own Mother and largely ignored by her Father.  She was a loving child who treated both parents with respect and tried to remain invisible.  Upon our marriage, she determined that our home would be loving and caring with grace as the driving force.  Rhonda spent time with each child, showering love and attention as was needed.  She made sure that each child knew beyond a shadow that he and she was loved, REALLY LOVED.  One of her first prayers after Sam, our firstborn arrived was, “Lord, I don’t know how to raise this child; I...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Caring Grandparents care. Seems almost too simple; we have cared for children, pets, friends of children and pets, more friends, and now grandchildren. We love our friends and want to find more friends, the lingo today is, find pre-friends and make them friends. Caring is such a part of our lives that we reach out to anyone who will be reached out to! In fact it is hard NOT to reach out. Today, this Grandpa spoke to approximately two dozen people while moving through life; children in Walmart, people in cars while walking to places on our list, people in Dickey’s and Dollar store, etc, it goes on and on. Some folks stopped and continued the conversation which opened the door to sharing conversation. Caring enough to share with anyone who needs a friendly word; Grandchildren are at the top of our list for caring, however when they are thousands of miles away, we find others on which to bestow our caring…on a daily basis. Instead of the old hack phrase, ...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Learning from the new Pope Grandparents need to keep on learning and not allow themselves to arrive at a point of "all knowledge." As a lifelong learner, this Grandpa wants to see and learn new things then apply them. It has been a pleasure to follow the new Pope Francis' activities in the news and blogs. His desire to reach out to the unreachable and see the unseen has had an affect on this Grandpa. He is quiet and unassuming and seems to have continued his life of giving and caring even in the papacy. This Grandpa wants to learn from this man. Learning and growing, you're never too late to start.

The Three Minute Grandparent: Reading Reading should be a part of your life. Getting older is a fact of life, settling down in a sedentary lifestyle should not be a part of that. Books, blogs, emails, computer community reading; there is so much to read so take your pick. Read to your grandchild, or if not available, read to a child of friends. Give him/her a love of books. Go to the library, no c ard? Get a library card from your local library and use those facilities! An older TV ad used to say, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Reading takes you to places that you may never visit physically. It allows you to dream again and see something exciting in your mind's eye. Reading stretches your imagination. Books come in all shapes and sizes; from the original paper back to hard backs, kindles to computer books, even comic books count in the reading game. This Grandparent reads something every day, blogs from many diverse writers are some of the favorites. My Kindl...

The Three Minute Grandparent: Eating Once considered a form of fellowship, eating for the Grandparent has become a form of torture. Grandparent is hungry, Grandparents prepares food, Grandparent eats...too much. The Grandparent body, once able to eat huge quantities of food, good and junk food, is no longer able to process any food without adding pounds to the body. The body that was once able to digest and move on from a Whopper meal, now finds itself bloated and gaining weight at an alarming rate. Grandparent searches for alternative foods, health foods. Salads and cottage cheese begin to fill up the refrigerator, low fat dressings appear, and fried foods disappear from the menu as does salt and sugar. Life becomes a tasteless circle of eating the "right" foods and searching for the perfect weight loss program. The weight seems to be super-glued on the body. No longer able to eat our tasty food, we search the bins of the healthy food store for mixed greens, which look li...