This weekend brought a visit from my son, his wife, and their three kids. I decided to write a little bit about my reflections on this visit, because you may be able to identify with my thoughts. Feel free, please, to add your thoughts in the comments.
I see these grandkids about twice a year, so they grow a lot between visits. I was astounded at how quickly they are growing. I was also amazed that all but the youngest had cell phones of their own (they are 9, 11, and 13). They used these cellphones constantly while visiting, even text messaging my son from upstairs while we watched TV downstairs. When they weren’t text messaging, they were playing games.
At first this bothered me, as I figured it will surely give them ADHD. But, as I thought about this, I realized that each generation thinks the next one is “into too much stuff.” I also realized that constant fiddling with gadgets is one possible symptom of ADHD, not necessarily a cause. The jury is probably still out on this, but as I watched them more I saw that they were attentive enough to what was going on around them — the cellphones had not “stolen their minds.”
Another thing I realized is that today’s children are under tremendous pressure to conform. That’s not really any different than when I was growing up, it is just that I had forgotten about how much of a factor it is for young people. As I reflect back on my early years, I remember stealing change from my Dad’s dresser so I could buy Cokes for my friends … that was one way I “gained acceptance.” (By the way, back then, bottled Cokes were a nickel each … then they went to six cents, then a dime.)
I see enough independence in my grandkids, though, to not make me terribly concerned about them following the crowd all of their lives. Hopefully my son and daughter-in-law will continue to instill in the children the importance of thinking for themselves and making the right decisions.
The other thing that caught my attention is the tremendous influence that grandparents have on grandchildren. They hung on my every word. It has always been like that, but I am amazed that it is still so, even though one has become a teen and the other two are knocking on the door of being teens.
I am very blessed to have such wonderful grandchildren. I hope I can live up to their expectations of me.