A month or so ago I described a "sort of structure to aim for" each day of my new retired life: Exercising, unpacking and rearranging, learning, maintenance, and a healthy dose of reading. I'm doing somewhat well in my daily attempts to keep up with those activities, but today--- well, today, I did hardly any of them. We had the grandkids.
How is it that grandkids can be so all-engrossing? After all, they are 8 and 11, capable of playing by themselves. There is one key reason that makes all the difference. They are old enough to play by themselves -- but they don't want to. They love to play Monopoly and they beg us to play with them. They call my iPhone from upstairs so they can Facetime with me. They find a hilarious video and call us in to watch it with them.
We have little time to ourselves when they are here, but that's okay. This can't last. Soon they will start pulling away from their family and doing more on their own. Maybe they won't want to come here during school vacations anymore. They'll be moving toward independence, and that's what they are supposed to do. So for now we play Monopoly for hours with them, we tramp through muddy ditches with them trailed by a herd of neighborhood cats, and we read books to them ensconced in their blanket fort. The day passes with little exercising, maintenance, learning, or any of the other things on my list, but those can wait. This is a good day!
How is it that grandkids can be so all-engrossing? After all, they are 8 and 11, capable of playing by themselves. There is one key reason that makes all the difference. They are old enough to play by themselves -- but they don't want to. They love to play Monopoly and they beg us to play with them. They call my iPhone from upstairs so they can Facetime with me. They find a hilarious video and call us in to watch it with them.
We have little time to ourselves when they are here, but that's okay. This can't last. Soon they will start pulling away from their family and doing more on their own. Maybe they won't want to come here during school vacations anymore. They'll be moving toward independence, and that's what they are supposed to do. So for now we play Monopoly for hours with them, we tramp through muddy ditches with them trailed by a herd of neighborhood cats, and we read books to them ensconced in their blanket fort. The day passes with little exercising, maintenance, learning, or any of the other things on my list, but those can wait. This is a good day!
Agreed. Just wish it were that easy to slow down and enjoy them as a working parent. Savor the time with them. :)
ReplyDeleteKerry