On Break

Fun with grandchildren is in my very near future (like the end of the week), and I’m sitting in Wichita’s Barnes and Noble Booksellers store nursing a pumpkin spice latte. I’ve selected books for each of the three grandbabies, with Mom’s help.

            Fourteen-year-old Grey is into “apocalyptic books where teenagers make things happen”, or so says his mother, such as Malcolm’s Gladwell’s Outliers and the Steve Jobs bio. I think he’s read (and perhaps liked) Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point also, so I’ve selected Gladwell’s new one, David and Goliath about leadership, weapons, and adversity.

            Eleven-year-old Avery is, with her friends, devouring the Hunger Games books, again according to Mom. I had in mind some classic, and Mom says she has read Anne of Green Gables, so I chose Little Women and Huckleberry Finn. If she’s read them, we’ll be back to a B&N pronto for a trade.

            Four-year-old Brynn will get a cute picture book about a little girl who refuses to respond to her name, Isabella. “My name is not Isabella.”

“Well, what is your name?” says Mom.

“I am Sally,” she answers, “the greatest, toughest, astronaut who ever was!”

This patterns continues through Sally Ride, Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mommy, and full circle back to Isabella. It’s cute, fun, and has value beyond the first words. My kind of book.

Visiting this family is such a wonderful experience of assessing kids’ reactions to their environment, relating to each other, relating to adults, and books, of course. It renews my faith in the future and provides good ongoing entertainment. I plan to take each out for a meal—just the two of us, one at a time. Since they live so far away, I want to make the most of the time. And don’t forget Mom and Dad. I’ll watch for one-on-one time with them too, but the three-kid household is normally quite wild and not conducive to quiet conversations. In fact, no way. The kids are highly social, so friends will be in and out. Revolving door.

Gotta get my grandkid fix! It’s fun and it informs any assumption that I might know how to write for those ages. They have their own voices and their own ways of taking in information and assessing their own experiences. I like to watch that happen and also know that much goes on below the surface. Hopefully, all this informs my writing in a wonderful way. I come away in a cloud of wonder about how much kids know and how little they know. I’m grateful for what they can teach me. My hope is that they will say that about me some day too.

Fun with grandchildren is in my very near future (like the end of the week), and I’m sitting in Wichita’s Barnes and Noble Booksellers store nursing a pumpkin spice latte. I’ve selected books for each of the three grandbabies, with Mom’s help.

            Fourteen-year-old Grey is into “apocalyptic books where teenagers make things happen”, or so says his mother, such as Malcolm’s Gladwell’s Outliers and the Steve Jobs bio. I think he’s read (and perhaps liked) Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point also, so I’ve selected Gladwell’s new one, David and Goliath about leadership, weapons, and adversity.

            Eleven-year-old Avery is, with her friends, devouring the Hunger Games books, again according to Mom. I had in mind some classic, and Mom says she has read Anne of Green Gables, so I chose Little Women and Huckleberry Finn. If she’s read them, we’ll be back to a B&N pronto for a trade.

            Four-year-old Brynn will get a cute picture book about a l

ittle girl who refuses to respond to her name, Isabella. “My name is not Isabella.”

“Well, what is your name?” says Mom.

“I am Sally,” she answers, “the greatest, toughest, astronaut who ever was!”

This patterns continues through Sally Ride, Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mommy, and full circle back to Isabella. It’s cute, fun, and has value beyond the first words. My kind of book.

Visiting this family is such a wonderful experience of assessing kids’ reactions to their environment, relating to each other, relating to adults, and books, of course. It renews my faith in the future and provides good ongoing entertainment. I plan to take each out for a meal—just the two of us, one at a time. Since they live so far away, I want to make the most of the time. And don’t forget Mom and Dad. I’ll watch for one-on-one time with them too, but the three-kid household is normally quite wild and not conducive to quiet conversations. In fact, no way. The kids are highly social, so friends will be in and out. Revolving door.

Gotta get my grandkid fix! It’s fun and it informs any assumption that I might know how to write for those ages. They have their own voices and their own ways of taking in information and assessing their own experiences. I like to watch that happen and also know that much goes on below the surface. Hopefully, all this informs my writing in a wonderful way. I come away in a cloud of wonder about how much kids know and how little they know. I’m grateful for what they can teach me. My hope is that they will say that about me some day too.Fun with grandchildren is in my very near future (like the end of the week), and I’m sitting in Wichita’s Barnes and Noble Booksellers store nursing a pumpkin spice latte. I’ve selected books for each of the three grandbabies, with Mom’s email help.

Fourteen-year-old Grey is into “apocalyptic books where teenagers make things happen”, or so says his mother, such as Malcolm’s Gladwell’s Outliers and the Steve Jobs bio. I think he’s read (and perhaps liked) Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point also, so I’ve selected Gladwell’s new one, David and Goliath, for him about leadership, weapons, and adversity.

Eleven-year-old Avery is, with her friends, devouring the Hunger Games books, again according to Mom. I had in mind some classics, and Mom says she has read Anne of Green Gables, so I chose Little Women and Huckleberry Finn. If she’s read them, we’ll be back to a B&N pronto for a trade.

Four-year-old Brynn will get a cute picture book about a little girl who refuses to respond to

her name, Isabella. “My name is not Isabella.”

“Well, what is your name?” says Mom.

“I am Sally,” she answers, “the greatest, toughest, astronaut who ever was!”

This patterns continues through Sally Ride, Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mommy, and folds full circle back to Isabella. It’s cute, fun, and has value beyond the first words. My kind of book.

Visiting this family is such a wonderful experience of assessing kids’ reactions to their environment, how they relate to each other, how they relate to adults, and what books appeal to them, of course. It renews my faith in the future and provides good ongoing entertainment.

I plan to take each child out for a meal—just the two of us, one at a time. Since they live so far away, I want to make the most of the time. And don’t forget Mom and Dad. I’ll watch for one-on-one time with them too, but the three-kid household is normally wild and not conducive to quiet conversations. In fact, no way. The kids are highly social; friends are in and out. Revolving door.

Gotta get my grandkid fix! It’s fun and it pokes holes in any assumption that I might think I know how to write for these ages. They have their own voices and their own ways of taking in information and assessing their own experiences, and we writers are challenged to appeal to the uniqueness of each age level. I like to watch that happens to each kid and also watch and listen for what goes on below the surface. Hopefully, all this informs my writing in a wonderful way. I anticipate that I'll come away in a cloud of wonder about how much kids know and how little they know. I’m grateful for what they can teach me about both. My hope is that they will say that about me some day.