Grandkids as Gurus: Lessons for Grownups
“A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed or even lost before we reach adulthood. I wish I could give a sense of wonder to each child in the world, so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote to the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with artificial things, the alienation from the sources of our strength.”
~ from The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson
I thought I knew. I was sure I knew. Oldest of seven children with a whole lot of babysitting under my belt, mother of two active children, elementary school teacher, therapist, holding Master’s degrees in both Education and Mental Health Counseling, for sure. I could be a deep and wise elder for my grandchildren. But when they arrived, little precious packages with their own wisdom and agenda and trajectory for growth, I sat in awe and complete unknowing of what to do, what to say, how to be a grandparent. As Winnie the Pooh says, “sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
These tiny beings did, do. When I sat in my heart and not in adult brain, I let them teach. I wrote their stories. Through the stories I began to see the source of their strength and, thankfully mine. I love sharing it as Grandkids as Gurus: Lessons for Grownups.
