Grand Parenting 104

We have four grandsons and each one is unique.  The youngest is Daniel Paul Seale.  He is our daughter and son-in-law’s first born.  It had been a few years since we had a baby around, but I quickly remembered my role as grandpa.  We are blessed to have all our grandkids relatively close by and twice blessed to have Daniel with us one day a week.  I am the one who sings silly songs and takes him on long walks.  At almost fifteen month, he also wants to be my helper when I am working in the yard.  He learned quickly where the hose is kept and knows how to turn the faucet on.  When he gets outside the first thing he does is pick up the watering can and head for the hose. 

Daniel is different from our other grandsons, however.  He is definitely going to be a digital native.  Put him in the family room and the first thing he does is look for the TV remote.  We thought he could satisfy him by giving him an old remote, minus the batteries.  He excitedly took it and went over to the TV and started pushing buttons.  When nothing happened the device was quickly dis-guarded.  The boy knows the difference.  It is the same thing with my iPhone.  I gave him my old phone, but when it didn’t light up when he pushed the button he had no use for it.  I do not recall our older grandsons even knowing what a remote or mobile device was when they were his age.

Such is the world today. Today’s kids are born into a world where technology is a way of life.  Our oldest grandson, Andrew, is fourteen and has his own cell phone.  His brothers have their own iPads.  When they come to stay overnight they bring the devices along and stay in touch with mom and dad and their siblings via facetime.  Yes, they do play games on those mobile devices but Peter and Amy have established limits and they live by those even when their parents are out of sight.

There are some parallels with Daniel, however.  He will sit and look at books with you, and when he is tired he wants to be cuddled.  Meals and snack time are always entertaining and yes he does need to have his diaper changed regularly.  There is another big similarity.  Daniel longs for security.   When he is scared he cries and wants to be held.  That’s okay, because it is a scary world that he and I live in.  These days I want to curl up in the arms of my Heavenly Father.  When I first heard of the mass shooting in Las Vegas my response was to long for Jesus presence in my life and in the lives of those directly affected. 

The most important role that I have as grandfather is to make sure Daniel is not just aware of the security and hope we possess in Jesus but to see it acted out in a real way.  In addition to the biblical stories, he needs to hear my faith story.  God has brought me through the tough time, just like he will deliver him from those times as well.