Conversations with the Kids

We talked to all six of our grandchildren the other day. What a way to get a lift!

Kate: "Gwamma. You know what? I'm going to Kinnergarden and on my first day of school, I won't have any homework but Madi will and Tori will but I won't and you know what else, Gwamma, we have a new swimming pool and you know what else, we played in a bounce house last night at our friends house and we made a water slide and we jumped and and and . . ." [I think she finally took a breath at this point.]

Madi: "Gingergrandma. My birthday is ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!!!"
Grandma: "Let's see . . . you'll be six, right?"
Madi: "SEVEN, Grandma. I'll be SE-VEN! and I'm going to have a sleepover with some of my friends and Cara and Erica, my cousins, and we're going to swim and do our nails and fix our hair and go to my friend's Dad's pizza place and make little pizzas and then we're going to come back to our house and play some games and probably stay up as late as we want to because we don't have to go to school the next day." [Maybe she took a breath about this point. No wonder my daughter is exhausted!]

Tori (11 going on 13; our daughter's oldest): "Hi Grandma. How are you and Papa? I sure miss you and love you."
Grandma: "We miss you a lot too, but we're going to come see you in October."
Tori: "That's cool, Grandma. I'm glad you and Papa are home. I really missed you. Did you know I'm taking golf lessons? It's kinda cool, but I'm not near as good as my Dad. . . . And I'm really glad school's going to start pretty soon."

Erica (7, our son's youngest): "Hello."
Grandma: "Hi, sweetheart. What are you up to?"
Erica: "Oh, not much right now. I'm just waiting for school to start, but first we're going on a vacation up to Yosemite."
Grandma: "Are you anxious for school to start?"
Erica: "Oh yes. I'm SO looking forward to meeting my new teacher and seeing my friends again. I'm SO ready to go back."

Cara (9, but closer to 10): "Hello, Grandma."
Grandma: "Hey there, honey. What have you been up to?"
Cara: "Oh, I'm reading. We changed our room a lot and cleaned it up. And we're going to go to Yosemite for vacation just before school starts."
Grandma: "Are you glad school's starting?"
Cara: "Yah. I want to see my friends and my teacher. I've been reading a lot this summer."

Nicholas (11, the only boy, the eldest grandchild, the protector, the thinker, taking life seriously): "Hel-lo. My Dad and I are going on a river rafting trip in October. We'll camp out a couple nights. It's not going down rapids yet or anything like that. Just rafting on the river; but it'll be great. And my room's all cleaned up and we painted it green with kinda bamboo shades. It's pretty cool. And my Dad's taking us to Yosemite before school starts. It's one of our favorite places."

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As I talked to each of them, their unique personalities were clearly obvious. They are the delight of our hearts, and with deep gratitude, I thank God that we are so richly blessed!