Life is short, make the most of it

Recently I kept one of my grandchildren (22 months) while her parents went on a short 3 night weekend. They live within a mile from me so we spent a lot of the day at my house and nights at her house so she would be in her own environment and routine at bedtime. Part of her night time routine was bath, run around naked, get pjs on, listen to Grammie read a few books and then sit in her crib which is now a big girl bed for 20 minutes or so and look at books before lights out. Then it was lights off and hugs good night. Sitting outside her room waiting for her book time to be over and listening to her turn the pages of the books, I was suddenly overwhelmed and moved to tears. After all, it only seemed but just a few years ago that I was putting my own children to bed and now.... THEIR children. So many things have happened in the past few months that were part of bringing me to that sad moment. My life seems to be moving at a much faster pace now more than ever and everyday brings different reminders of how short life really is. So, instead of dwelling on the things that seemed to overwhelm me at that moment, I purposely started to think of the MANY blessings I do enjoy, and thanked God for His personal care that has brought me to this place in my life. Life moves on whether we are ready for it or not, so make the most of everyday that you enjoy it....and thank God for His provision in it. Grammie

Drive Time...It's an Opportunity

When our kids were growing up, in middle school and high school for the most part, my husband used to drive them to school everyday. Being blessed with the gift of teaching, he found this 20-25 minutes of uninterrupted drive time to be a prime time to impart his wisdom upon his captive audience of three. :) Yes, there were many theological, political and practical lessons taught during these morning jaunts and hopefully some of the things talked about stuck in those teenage heads. To this day the kids, who are grown now, still joke about the drive time lessons, but..... they remember them!
Of course, this was many years ago before cell phones and ipads were the companion and distraction of choice. How do you feel when you are with someone who is always on the phone or distracted by their iphone? Left out? How are your kids feeling when this is their drive time story?
We were not experts by any means, but here is what we learned, parents--mom and dad- turn off the radio and DVDS in your car. Don't use your drive time with your kids as your phone time. Rather, use your drive time with your kids, young and old, to talk about the day -what's happened and what's coming. Make it an opportunity to listen to your kids talk to you and to each other. You will be surprised how your child will become engaged with you in conversation if given the opportunity. There may be silence at first but believe me, talking will become the norm and you will be amazed what you learn about your kids and that your kids are opening up to you.

Grammie