Never Too Young or Old

Leaving the teaching field for retirement does not let one just ride off into the sunset as I thought I would.

More personal activities take precedence now which is the greatest part of retirement, and I find teaching is still a large part of me but on a different scale. I still want to create, read, write and be an influence. Trying to influence 80 students every day for 180 days a year was becoming quite an overwhelming task for me in the last few years before retirement. It was time to go to a different place.

My arena now consists of 2-4 children who are all different ages and have different needs--mainly 2 1/2 years to 6 1/2 years. There are 3 boys and one girl. I cannot be with them 180 days a year, but I can make a difference when I am with them. I am a grandparent, and I love being with them especially when they create.

We all have our writers notebooks now--some are writing, and some are just drawing. I am tickled to death especially when Lilly (4 1/2) finds and grabs her notebook without prompting and says, "I'm ready." We try to write/draw with "No walk, no talk"--really hard to do!!! Noah (4 1/2) likes to print his name and others words with his race car drawings. Lucas (6 1/2) prints sentences with many different drawings, and James (2 1/2) loves markers and circles!

Then we share and clap for one another. After that, we write/draw again because we want to.

This activity doesn't last long right now, but this is better than any sunset!!!

As a Result

As grandparents, we are always looking for something to catch the eye of our grandchildren, their attention, their minds, or their food palates to make our time with them special. Yes, we can always buy them something special. Buying is easy. It's the time spent with them that counts.

When:

buying them a game, we must play it with them.

purchasing trucks and cars, we must rev it up with them.

giving a fishing pole, we must fish with them.

making food for them, we must include them in the preparation.

buying coloring books, paper, markers, paints, and crayons, we must design with them.

getting out the Playdoh/Legos/building kits, we must build with them.

picking up a book, we must read to/with them.

choosing a writers notebook and writing utensil for them, we must write/sketch with them.

being a grandparent, we must really be with them when we are with them.

being with them, we will share our hearts, our minds, and our souls.

As a result, we will always be with them in their hearts.