Skip to main content

Ten Things of Thankful: What My Grandchildren Remember

Parents and grandparents have hopes of what kind of legacy they will leave their posterity--not so much in a physical sense, but more in a values and traits sort of sense.  I'm no different.  Today, I had the chance to spend most of the day with my grandchildren, and we enjoyed the time together.


1.  I want my grandchildren to enjoy dogs.  I'm thankful they do love Drexel.  (They haven't spent much time with Deedee, but I'm sure they would love her, too.)  Today, youngest granddaughter wanted to go see, "Grandpa. . . no. . . Grandma. . . no. . . Drexel!" That's the pecking order around here, so I guess I succeeded in passing along a love of dogs--though I definitely rank John higher!


Photo:  Drexel and youngest granddaughter gaze at each other
2.  I want my grandchildren to enjoy the outdoors.  Though they weren't here at sunrise, we did visit a park later in the morning, and the girls enjoyed the playground equipment.  I'm thankful we share a love of the outdoors.


Photo:  Beautiful pink and white clouds in a blue sky above the California Aquaduct at sunrise--as seen on my run this morning
Photo:  John pushes our granddaughters on the swings at the park
3.  I want the grandchildren to enjoy music.  Today I put on an Irish Rovers CD and we had fun clapping and singing to the music.  I was impressed with how well they could clap the rhythm.  The piano is always available for little hands to play, too, and my oldest granddaughter always spends some time playing on the piano when she visits.  I'm thankful we share a love of music.



4.  I want my grandchildren to have a love of reading.  We always bring out books when they come over.  The first book requested is, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  As soon as we finish that one, the request demand is, "One more time!"  We read it again.  Immediately, "One more time!"  There's nothing wrong with reading favorites more than once.  I'm thankful they love books.  


5.  I want my grandchildren to laugh often.  Apparently, my grandson finds my selfie skills humorous!  I'm thankful for happy grandchildren.


Photo:  Grandson and I laugh for the camera
6.  I want my grandchildren to enjoy a good imagination.  While they were here, the girls flew on fairy wings, built castles, rode horses, and played house.  I'm thankful their imaginations are active.


Photo:  The granddaughters show John their fairy wings
Photo:  Oldest granddaughter builds a castle with colorful giant Lego-type blocks

7.  I want my grandchildren to appreciate a variety of fruits and vegetables.  We picked up the produce box today, and I was able to have them smell fresh oregano and dill.  We ate oranges and sampled radishes and cauliflower.  (We later made chocolate chip cookies, and those seemed to be a hit, too.)  I'm thankful we can share good food together.

8.  I want my grandchildren to experience the power of prayer.  We always bless the food before each meal.  I'm thankful they can join us in that family tradition.

9.  I want my grandchildren to remember encouraging words from me.  So far, though, the line that got repeated over and over and over (and over!) today was. . . "Don't be scared of chickens." Yes, I will forever be known as the author of that most-helpful command, "Don't be scared of chickens."  I'm thankful that my grandchildren listen to me.  

10.  I want my grandchildren to know that I love their grandpa.  I'm thankful for John.  He's a great husband, a fantastic dad, and a wonderful grandpa.  

What are you thankful for this week?  Have you ever said something in passing that became seared into the memory of your children or grandchildren?  Are you scared of chickens?  







Pin It


Ten Things of Thankful


 Your hosts

Join the Ten Things of Thankful

Comments

  1. This was truly a beautiful post.
    :-)
    Love the pictures. Time with grandchildren is the most important thing. All these things you want for them are what make you their favourite person, or one of I am sure. I know not what having kids or grandchildren is like, but I do know what my grandparents meant to me and still do, forever will.
    Love those games and stories. I remember the bear one from my childhood. Reeating a story again and again helps with their memorizzational skills for future life.
    Oh, and I am a little afraid of chickens.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. If I can be the kind of grandparents my grandparents were to me, I'll be happy. :-)

      Delete
  2. While I am Not Afraid of chickens, I am well known for having said the famous words "prunes are just big raisins so please eat them!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't it funny how some lines become memorable? :-)

      Delete
  3. While I am Not Afraid of chickens, I am well known for having said the famous words "prunes are just big raisins so please eat them!"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kristi, this is a beautiful post and sharing love and life with your grandchildren is inspiring and heartwarming. I for one am patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for grandchild #1 to be conceived. I can't wait to share love and laughter with them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is by far one of my favorites of your Thankful posts - well done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Holy smokes! Look at the size contrast between Drexel and your grandaughter lol He looks giant! I think it's marvelous you want your grandchildren to love dogs as much as you and John. Growing up, my family always had German Shepards. There are pictures of me as a baby in the carriage in our front yard, Nema sitting guard :D Canines are most wonderful creatures.
    I love this post Kristi. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Yours are filled with that, many times over :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Drexel is a big boy--78 pounds--but he's a gentle giant.
      Thank you for your kind words! :-)

      Delete
  7. I remember being a little girl and helping my aunt gather eggs -- nope, not afraid of chickens! One of the things I am always most grateful for is Grampy and how much he loves Amara. It is such fun to look back and "remember when Amara used to..." I do love all the things you want for your grandchildren!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate your posts about the fun you have with Amara. You are a great example of how to be a good grandma! :-)

      Delete
  8. Lovely post. Each picture speaks a thousand words. You are one wealthy woman and they are some very blessed children.

    ReplyDelete
  9. so beautiful and expressed so well - yes i'm on board this are wonderful things to wish or hope for your family members - but also important they are priceless thankfuls :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Knowing you via your blog, I have little doubt they will learn this and more. Oh, how many times have I read Brown Bear?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And what do you see? :-) Hope you had a great birthday!

      Delete
  11. while not 'scared of chickens' per se lol, consider what a chicken would be to a child, not yet three feet tall! prehistoric dinosaurs would not have anything on a chicken!
    but, it's not the size that makes things scary, of course, one look at the first photo bears witness to that… dogs are great

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just read your comment to John, and he appreciates the confirmation of what he has been saying for years about how terrifying giant chickens would be! It must be a guy thing. . . lol

      Delete
  12. Your posts are always lovely, and this one especially so. I think you've got some lucky grandkids to have you and John as grandparents. Love that bald head on your grandson!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. You know, I hadn't thought about the fact he has very little hair--his sisters have so much, I would have expected him to have a full head, too!

      Delete
  13. Lovely post. My kids aren't old enough to have something seared into their brain (other than "Because I said so").
    However, my OWN grandfather used to tell us "There's not such thing as being bored, only boring people" should anyone complain about being bored...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And then did your grandfather suggest chores that needed attention? :-)

      Delete
  14. You're right about clapping, and I think that law is universal. I don't own any Dubliners CDs, but I know I've heard of them. I'll have to go listen.

    MegaBloks--that's the word I was looking for! :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: Autumn Edition

It's autumn time, one of my favorite times of year.  I just couldn't leave this weekend as a one-post weekend.  

Ten Things of Thankful: Last Two Weeks

  Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, as viewed from an overlook I apologize for not commenting on your blog posts this past week; John and I took a vacation to Yellowstone National Park, leaving behind our computers and, to a large extent, cell phone service. We escaped the outside world and just spent time in nature. Though we have friends near Yellowstone (who we love to visit) we made this trip just about us, so please forgive us if we were nearby and didn't stop by. The crowds were minimal (though we did mask up whenever we passed someone on the trails) and we spent our days hiking, taking photos, and watching geysers erupt. Today, we are back home and back to work, and, in the case of my computer, back to old shenanigans like not letting me import my photos. (I was able to add the above photo by using blogger on my phone, but that isn't my preferred method.) I want to write about Yellowstone and have photos I want to share, but will leave that for another...

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...