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It is a wondrous thing to watch a child grow into adulthood. Last year, we had the pleasure of spending time with our granddaughter at her very first apartment. This year, we were able to enjoy nearly a week with a grandson at his first apartment.
Distance and circumstances meant that we haven’t always been able to spend as much time with our grandson as we would have liked. We missed some milestones, particularly during his teen years. We’ve spent some time with him this past year, however, and have been both amused and amazed by the changes we’ve seen.
Although he towers over me now, my mind-or more likely-my heart is stuck viewing him as the feisty toddler who consistently made us laugh. We have an old video of him singing the “Bob, the Builder” song. We still love it – he hates even the mention of it! One of my favorite memories of him as a preschooler was when we were in the checkout line at a store, and he casually spouted off, “Grandma, who are your children? I don’t believe I’ve met them.” (His father is our son.)
He’s always been wicked smart, but was also very active, so sometimes the brilliance was lost amongst the chaos. He is more settled now, and the brain power shines through. He whipped us at the various games we played each evening! He has most of his apartment already organized. By the time we arrived, three days after move-in, he had decided upon his work and household routines. Since his office is so close to home, he chooses to walk to and from work, and even comes home for his lunch hour. He was at the DMV for his new license and tags, on his first Monday morning. In short, he was SO responsible, it was shocking.
During this visit, we learned that while his arguments are well thought out, he is now willing to listen to other viewpoints. That wasn’t the case, even a year ago. Discussions revolved around politics, the best high yield bank accounts, and whether or not we can truly trust food labels. Wha-a-a-a-t? We certainly learned from him. He’s even helped us adjust our viewpoints on a couple issues. In short, he is, step-by-step, becoming an adult, and we are in absolute awe!
He is well ahead of his peers in terms of thinking like an adult. In fact, one of my new favorite memories of him is when he was leaving the apartment for work. We would be on our own for the day, so as he left, he admonished us, “Be sure to turn the lights off when you leave. I don’t know, yet, what the electricity bill will look like here.”