Little Voices in My Head

They went home two days ago. But I can still hear their voices. 

 “I wanna play… Can I get out the Lego’s? I’m hungry.” 

 “Grandma, can we sew? What are we doing today? Can we watch TV?” 

Our grandkids visited for a week. Sure, we are still catching up on sleep. But it was, oh, so worth it.

Our five-year old grandson, whether out of imitation of TV characters or vocal differences, already has the deeper voice. And endless energy. He wakes up bouncing on the bed, ready to play and run. Our eight-year-old granddaughter is more cerebral.  

I’ve read temperament and personality are in-born and fixed at a very early age. I can see them as athletes, scientists, doctors, or maybe farmers.  The world is waiting for them to come explore and solve its riddles.

Our grandson is even better at picking cherry tomatoes than I. He can worm his way into the garden recesses and emerge with a handful of the sweet, juicy fruit, or vegetable, depending on your view. The kids debated fruit vs. veggie without any prompting. The granddaughter, like her “Gramps,” a title she bestowed this trip, also has the sweet skin mosquitoes love. The two of them stayed out of the garden-harvesting events. 

But there were many other events in which all participated. For example, being chased by an ostrich and emu at a nature zoo. And both of the youngest family members were delighted to play with belongings left behind by their father and uncle. Lego’s, books, blocks and water guns were big hits. “Oscar the Grouch” and “Howliday Inn" (from the vampire bunny series their dad had loved) even had to be packed for the trip home.

One of our favorite supper time games surprisingly was borrowed from the PBS news program “McLaughlin Group”: Tell me something I don’t know. And it was the youngest generation telling the oldest something we didn't know. But, the most interesting things the grandchildren knew that we didn’t were what they showed rather than told us. 

Both grandchildren are more technologically advanced than their grandparents. My iPhone no longer is gameless. A rather shocking state I had not realized it was suffering. Together we figured out how to stream movies. And somehow the youngest generation quickly mastered the multitude of TV and other remotes, programming in a season pass for “Phinneas and Ferb” and “Good Luck Charlie.”

In the aftermath I am left wondering, do any “Phinneas and Ferb” plot lines deviate from the same formula? I suppose I will find out. I now have an entire Playlist from which to choose. I can’t wait until the next visit to see what else I will learn.