Quaren-cation with Grandpa
This last week was interesting. We had my dad here for the first time since shut down for a "Quaran-cation"..... a vacation where he came down from Georgia and I refused to let him leave our house so that I could protect him from every single germ there was, lol!
Of course in our #wonderfulchaos home, all of our stay-at-home fun went exactly as planned! Are you picking up on my sarcasm?
Imagine day two: we wake up, have a delicious cup of coffee on the porch, the breeze is blowing, and the kids are playing in the yard. We go for a walk with the puppy and bike ride with the kids, come home to make breakfast, and BOOM! I get a migraine. I'm down for the count. SERIOUSLY?!
THEN, two hours later I emerge from my room to try to participate and relieve my dad from watching the kids (mind you, this was after an interlude of my husband coming home for a lunch break and assisting). The 3-year-old throws a MASSIVE temper tantrum, and the 13-year-old is monitoring his Fantasy Football team like it's his job!
After I get the toddler down for a nap, my dad starts working on trying to fix our ice-maker and my 8-year-old is soaking it up! My 13-year-old is STILL monitoring Fantasy Football like it's his job. So I simply call him over, as I lay on the couch with my migraine, and say our special phrase to put everything in perspective: "hey, why don't you 'spend time with things that love you back.' Grandpa is only here for a short period of time, learn everything you can from him. You will use it for a lifetime."
He immediately got it. No argument, no push back. He put his phone down and jumped right in. And now I'm laying here listening to them laughing and learning from one of the greatest men I know. And it's taking me back to when I was a kid, leaning over his shoulder, watching him fix anything that broke.
I love that they learned something new, made memories with Grandpa, and finished up just in time for a rested toddler to wake up and challenge Grandpa to an intense game of Disney Chess!
So my encouragement to you today is to teach your children to be present in their lives and learn that grandparents are the original Google. Encourage them to spend time learning all they can.
#OGGOOGLE