Are you privileged enough to be Grandparents?
Today is Grandparents day in many schools in our area. It is a day when we grandparents, go to school and see and hear what our grandchildren are learning. They learn special songs and do skits, and are very proud of all they have accomplished, and are looking for our recognition and praise. What we think matters to them, so it is important that we watch and listen carefully, because they will ask questions. Grandma did you like my poem? Grandpa did you see my art work? To us it may be a loud mass of confusion, but to them it is the opening night of a play they have rehearsed for weeks.
Believe it or not, this is a great opportunity and honor for us older generation. What we have seen in our lives, and lived through can only help us be better people and it enables us to be mentors to these young impressionable minds. Last year we still had my mother (at 97 then) going from classroom to classroom, 7 in all, and making over what each one did like they were the next PICASSO. She told them about when she went to school and how things were different. They hung on her every word. She is gone now, but I want to think the impression she made on their lives will be remembered, or at least be engrained in them somehow, to give them a reservoir of respect to draw from. Now it is my turn to be a voice of wisdom in their young lives. So I must live by example, watch what I say and do, so I don’t come across as a hypocrite.
‘I don’t have any grandchildren,’ you lament. Well, some children don’t have any grandparents. Contact your local school and see if there is a child that could use a surrogate grandparent. You will both be blessed by this action. Some live too far away to come for a one day program, and the child you helped would be delighted to be involved in the action, instead of on the sideline.
So during this and every day you spend with your grandchildren, don’t grumble about how crowded and hot it is, or the noise level. Treat these young vulnerable hearts with care, because everything you say and do will leave a lasting impression. We don’t know what a difference a day will make, so make this one the best day ever!
As parents we must teach our children respect for their elders, not just grandparents. It is an important lesson they will not receive anywhere else but under your tutelage. When the Bible tells us to: ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ it is not a suggestion but a commandment. Your children will learn more by watching how you treat your parents than anything you can ever say.
We as writers don’t use the gift of wisdom the elderly can bring to a story enough. It is something I want to change in my writings, how about you?
“But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.”
Wisdom of Solomon 4:9
Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 4:5-7
The hoary (Gray) head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 16:31
The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.
Proverbs 20:29