Have you ever asked your grandchildren what they wanted to do during their life? I was explaining “bucket lists” to them, and was telling them some things in my bucket list that I want to do. I was amazed at what they came up with. Here are a couple of the grandkids lists.
My 4 year old grandson’s bucket list:
Own a phone, go to school, water the flowers, be a Marine just like daddy, pick up dog poop (yes he really said that), drive a car, and do handwriting. That’s a pretty good list for a 4 yr old.
My 8 yr old granddaughter’s bucket list:
Go to Disneyworld, go to London, be a schoolteacher, and go to New York with me to a Broadway Musical. That’s also a pretty awesome list.
My own bucket list:
DisneyWorld with my grandchildren, travel through Europe, publish a children’s book, learn to oil paint. This is just a portion of my bucket list.
I can already see things in their bucket lists, that I would LOVE to do with them. My 8 yr old granddaughter takes after me. I LOVE to travel and would LOVE to travel with her to some of her destinations. I know as they get older, their bucket lists will change and will grow. But for right now it’s a good start.
As a grandmother, I will continue to ask them about their “bucket lists” and help them to accomplish their lists. Share your bucket list with your grandchildren. You may have several things that are the same that would be fun to talk about or even do together. I challenge each one of you to ask your grandchildren what is in their “bucket lists” and write it down along with the date so they can remember. It is a fun conversation to have and to look back at with them.
I LOVE to read. It’s trying to find the time to read that is the tricky part. I have always been a reader and love a good book. When I was growing up, during the summers, my sister who was married with children of her own, would take the neighborhood children to the library every couple of weeks. We all got our own library cards which to us, was a special treat. We would all pick out some books to read, then we would lay on blankets in someone’s backyard, and read, read, read. To this day, I still have several books I’m reading at the same time whether it’s on my kindle, iPad, or just a book that you hold, I always have a book near. My children grew up having books read to them, and my grandchildren love to have me read books to them. Not just one book, but several at a time. Here is an author that I have really enjoyed, and her books that I have liked.
Have you ever had a heart to heart with your grandchildren? We spent Saturday trick-or treating at the zoo with all of my grandchildren. Each one so special with their own personalities that shine. After continually telling some of them several times to “stay by us or you are going to get lost”, I decided to explain to my little 4 year old grandson how important it is to stay by us. I explained to him that we are going on a vacation to Disneyland and that if he doesn’t stay by us, he will get lost. His response was “why”? WHY is a big word in children’s vocabularies and we need to take the time to explain to them. “Just because” isn’t a good enough answer. I knew I needed a good explanation. I asked him to look at me in the face, so I knew he was listening. I let him know that Disneyland is a big, big place with so many things to see and do, and so many people there, that we wouldn’t be able to see him or his cousins in the crowd of people if they didn’t hold our hands. I told him that I was going to bring a child leash that attached to my wrist and then attached to his wrist so he couldn’t wander too far away. His response was “how about we put them on our legs”. To which I replied, “I will fall down and break my nose”. His response was priceless. “I will hold your hand”. BINGO. I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. The importance of staying close and helping each other. I will be taking the child leash with me, and I will put it on our legs, and I’m sure our wrists too. I love that they say what comes to their minds. They don’t need to think about their response, it just comes out of their mouths naturally. I love to listen to their little conversations between the cousins. The innocence they portray. As their Grandma, Paypams, or Muck, I want them to know that I will always be their to listen to them at any time, and in any place.