Barb and I spent this morning at our grandsons' school, St. Paul Lutheran School in Fort Worth, Texas. It was grandparents day and the church sanctuary was packed. They had a very nice assembly featuring the school choirs and orchestra. They also had a humorous version of Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, with a senior couple matched against their granddaughter. Yes the student won.
The highlight for me was sitting with our oldest grandson,second grader Andrew. After he had showed me around his classroom and read a book to me, he asked if I would answer some questions. The questions had been printed out for him, but as he asked each one he listened patiently as I responded. He wanted to know where I was born (Detroit) and what kinds of games I liked to play as a child (outdoor activity baseball, indoor Monopoly). He also was curious about my first job (paperboy).
I reflected back on a conversation that our daughter, Katie, had with my grandmother. Katie was in middle school and had the assignment of interviewing someone who had experienced history. At that point grandma was one hundred years old: That's a lot of history. One of the questions was: What is the greatest invention during your lifetime. I was thinking the telephone or radio, but grandma trumped that, "electricity." She went on to describe what life was like before the electric light. Katie sat amazed.
Our children can learn so much from listening to the stories from previous generations. Some of those are stories of faith, other are of family traditions. Some are stories of tragedies and others of great accomplishments. Even in the world of social media and mass communication, there is still a need for storytelling. Make sure that is part of your child's experience.
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