Watching and Listening . . . 2

I had a great and quick 24 hours with several of my grandchildren. JoAnn had been there for several days so while I had a great 24 hours, she had a great week.

With 4 families, including us, it was a bit of a mad house, but then it always is. In this group the children range from 11 months through 11 years so any notions of cohesion are not readily apparent. But then, I really wasn't expecting cohesion and I hadn't come to Idaho to watch and listen for cohesion. I wanted to enjoy my grandchildren.

One of the cutest moment came last night as we the dads (2 of them) and granddads (2 of us) were sitting in the basement with a group of the older children watching a loud movie. Back behind us was Donna's "baby" (almost 8) and he was playing a game on the computer and sitting at a short (I emphasize short) table of perfect height for him. It is a toy train table the rest of the time. Of course the room was absolutely dark except for the movie. I watched baby get up, go into his weekend room and a few minutes later he has a desk lamp, has it plugged in and is trying to move the flexible neck so he doesn't create a glare on the movie screen. Who says our kids aren't considerate? He was struggling. He had the cord as far as it would go and on the wrong side of the computer to do what he wanted to do. I walked over, sat down, asked, "Do you need help?"

The proverbial "No" came back to me.

So I watched him struggle and finally said, "Let's move the lamp to the other side of the computer." We did and it worked well. We got the light all arranged so he could see the keyboard and not create a glare on the movie. You see, as a logical Grandpa, I was sure that was what he was trying to do.

As I walked away I heard a "Thank you Grandpa, now I won't be afraid of the dark." I chuckled and realized I wasn't so smart after all. Later when I shared the story with his Mom she goes, "All of my kids sleep with a light on."

About an hour later I was back in the basement and baby was still playing his game and the movie was still blaring, but coming to a cataclysmic conclusion. I turned around and there was "Little Danny," almost all 3 years of him, standing by baby, his big cousin, watching him play the computer game. How cute.

But wait, he was doing more. As I looked a little closer I could see him moving his hands in front of the light. Not to bother baby, but to do shadow puppets on the wall. I was blown away. Here are two little boys, one busily engaged in a computer game and the second observing and simultaneously making shadow puppets on the wall. Both were having fun, enjoying themselves, and lost in the experience.

Those were precious moments. I was listening and watching. Fortunately I didn't take a photo, as in this case it would have ruined the moment.