Opus 2024-202: On the Street: Cranky Is Good

I was driving across town and reading signs as I went.  One of them started off, “Through a Child’s Eyes” and billed itself as a Child Development Center.  Not being sure exactly what that meant, my curiosity drove me to look it up on line.  Yes, I do have better things to do but sometimes questions keep popping into my head.  

It turns out it was a well marketed day care center.  I found the blurbs on line to be very depressing.  This group of adults were saying that they could become surrogate parents and provide all the leadership and foundations that the children’s parents were supposed to give.  I am not sure I would want people who think they are better parents than I am in charge of my children.  It reminds me of Groucho Marks saying he would not want to be part of any club that would have him as a member.

If there is anything that our culture does not need it is the tendency to look at things through a child’s eyes.  My grandchildren can’t get the concept that a quarter is worth 25 pennies.  How could such a thing be?  When I was a child I remember telling the adults at the table that I would take the money being offered to pay for dinner when it was refused for politeness.  There are so many important things children are not ready to grasp.  We endanger civilization if we try to look at our world through a child’s eyes.

That goes double for college age students who have been brainwashed by the media and public schools.  I find it depressing that when they turn 18 they can be depended on to vote in conformity to the obvious evil of their keepers.  

What we need are more cranky old men and fewer sensitive flower children.  And, yes, I am a cranky old man.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-104: Baby Talk: Enjoy the Moment

I am not sure which is better, following or carrying.

Walking behind a toddler is a delightful experience.  They bounce and weave.  They seem to be going over one way and then the other.  If they were an adult you would think they were drunk.  Such energy.  Such a lack of self awareness.

But when you pick them up you enter another world.  You get to hug and tickle.  You can buzz ears and count ribs.  You get to experience wiggles first hand and hold the squirming mass upside down. 

I am not sure which is better but I don’t need to decide.  I will just enjoy them while I can.  Some day the baby will be a teen aged embodiment of embarrassment and certainly too big to pick up and hang by the heels. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-078: Baby Talk: The Wisdom of Children

I had a great talk with my grandson yesterday.  It was like talking to a liberal except the baby made more sense.  He was making happy faces and nodding his head.  Okay, so his nods were more like a bobble head doll.  When he got some happy hands we sang a verse of The Hokey Poky. 

The great part was that when he started getting an attitude that may have been rooted in dirty diapers, I passed him to his mother.  That was my chance to act like a liberal.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-064: Baby Talk: Cause and Effect

One of the important lessons that children must learn is cause and effect.  Unfortunately the younger generation is being sheltered from that lesson by education and government. 

My granddaughter is still struggling to make the connections.   She like to open and close doors.  She also thinks she needs a daily libation of lotion on her hands.  This is not a good combination for a toddler.  Once her hands are well lubricated she will invariably walk over and try to open the door she just closed.  This does not go well for her. 

Eventually she will learn to deal with it.  It may not make her a Constitutional scholar or a free market economist but it will move her toward adulthood.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-053: Baby Talk: Better than a Diaper

I now have a grandson.  He is at the stage where he is beginning to show some personality if you catch him at the right moment.  Other times?  Not so much.

Today I rescued him from his bed and what kind of thanks did I get?  Did I get a happy face?  Did a get a smile?  Did I even get eye contact?  He seemed to find a diaper next to the chair more interesting than his grandfather.

Oh, well.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-256: Baby Talk: Deja Vu

Grandchildren are a mixed bag of joy and fear.

The joys are a mixture of memory and anticipation.  So much of what I see reminds me of when my children were small.  I remember chasing my children and now get to chase my granddaughter.  Her screams of joy are enough to wake the neighbors.  We keep going until one of us gets worn down.  Changing diapers is a time to develop new games.  At least I don’t need to worry about getting squirted in the face.  Feeding her breakfast is a daily treat.  When she is in the mood she will settle down on my lap.  She will at times condescend to give hugs.  Every moment is cherished. 

The fears also return.  I remember when our children were young.  I remember how often I wondered if the latest expression of Original Sin meant that all was lost.  I remember wondering if I could return my son to the hospital and get a refund.  I remember when there were threats that I could do nothing about and the feeling of helplessness. 

I have the same concerns about my granddaughter.  She is a free spirit and always in motion.  I don’t think she will be a librarian, maybe a gardener.  Meanwhile I am getting older.  I am thankful that God has provided her with excellence in parenting, not to mention the fine grandparents.

And don’t forget the guardian angel on special assignment.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-240: Baby Talk: Determining the Nature of the Falling Nut

Children are born.  Adults are made.

It may be that some children automatically become readers.  That has not been the case with our granddaughter.  Of course she is still a toddler but personalities develop early.  She would rather run around the couch than sit with a book.

My daughter is working on that and is planting the seeds.  She lets the toddler run but there are times when she restrains the baby until she calms down enough to look at the book being read.  It isn’t easy.  It takes time.  It reflects a commitment to a goal.  In time the habit is established and we see an increase in times when the child will pick up a book and look through it.  Will she become a reader?  I don’t know.  Some people just don’t like to read.  They would rather go out and turn a tree into a cabinet than read a book about trees.  Still, the seeds need to be planted to keep the options open.

Why do children turn out the way they do?  We often talk of heredity and environment.  What the modern culture ignores is free will, choices.  It goes beyond the choices of the child.  Parents make choices in how they spend their time.  Often the key question is, excuse the word, selfish or sacrifice.  It is much easier to plop the kid in front of an electronic device so you can do your nails than to engage them and help them to grow.

Even the best, progressive day care cannot make up for the attention of a mother.  We always laugh when some official child education organization publishes something as a great tool of learning and it is something that mothers have been doing for centuries.  Grandmothers could have written the books but they don’t have Ph.D. behind their name or government funding.

I realize it is easy to judge and my point is not to condemn single parents who are doing the best they can but they need to realize that when they have a choice it will have consequences.  We were surrounded by mothers and fathers making those kinds of sacrifices and the results we see are gratifying. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-238: Baby Talk: Conversations

It is great having my daughter and granddaughter staying with us.  There are down sides though.  One of those is the topics of conversation.

I just finished a discussion of baby turds.  It was like a mystery of who-done-it.  We were trying to figure out why the consistency of the feces was different this morning.  Was it the diet?  Was it teething?  Is she sick?  Has she been watching CNN?

At the time these topics are of interest.  I am not sure that I would want a chapter in my biography to spend much time on them.  We have discussed why car seats are hard to adjust.  Why do babies like to run around naked?  How long were the naps for the last week?  Why does she pick their nose, on both sides at once? 

In those times when there is little to discuss there is always time to chase a toddler around the house and wonder where they get their energy.

Where will I get my energy?

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-224: Baby Talk: Curiosity

Curiosity does not denote intelligence.  We think so in a child.  When they are always sticking their nose, fingers and entire body in places where they do not belong we talk about how they are curious and learning about their world.  I know it is true of my granddaughter but I am not sure about yours.  Being curious does not mean you learn anything.

Take the cat for instance.  It is always getting into every opening and gap.  It does things over and over and, to be honest, never seems to learn a thing.  It certainly does not get more intelligent.  Of course this could just be the fact that I am not a cat lover but how many times does a cat have to jump on my feet in bed before it learns it cannot fly?

Intelligence is what makes it possible to learn from experience.  My hope is that someday I will learn not to walk through the house in the dark.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-221: Baby Talk: Squirrel

Baby watching fills a lot of cracks in the day.  Maybe it should be called “Toddler Watching”.  Her attention span reminds me of a lot of adults I know.

Baby’s are easy to distract.  That is one of the great points when it comes to dealing with a tired toddler throwing a grump.  We get her to look for her kitty.  We ask her where her baby is.  She totes a doll around with her all the time.  She rocks it, wraps it, pats it and does everything to it that has been done to her in her 18 months.  Recently we got her going to get baby and suddenly, “Squirrel”, she saw something shiny and forgot all about baby.  You could see the transformation of focus.

We see this in our adult world.  Remember the movie “Wag the Dog”?  The idea was to distract the public from a presidential scandal by faking a disaster or military attack.  If you notice, every time the Democrats are faced with any kind of scandal that the news can’t ignore there is a new announcement that tells us Donald Trump is meeting his downfall.  And the general public looks.  They forget about baby and focus on shiny.

I have hopes that the toddler will develop a longer attention span.  I am not sure about the general public.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-219: Baby Talk: Monkey See...

It is amazing how much children see and how much they mimic our actions.  Our granddaughter sees us taking a tissue and blowing our nose.  She grabs anything including the hem of our clothing and makes the noise with her mouth.  She then will wad up the receptor and throw it on the ground. 

The one that got me yesterday had to do with the dishwasher.  When I am through putting things in I will use my foot to raise the door up to old man stoop level.  As I was pushing in the racks and getting help from the toddler I was ready to close the door when she raised up her foot under the edge.  She didn’t catch the entire effect so she did not move the door but she was obviously doing what she had seen the monkey do.

Children watch us.  I don’t think it ever stops even when they grow up.  People watch us.  We need to live like it makes a difference because it does.

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Opus 2019-215: Baby Talk: Here, Fido

Those of you that have pets are familiar with the magic of the shaken food bowl.  It can be a life saver with cats who don’t want to come in from the cold.  You stand at the back door and rattle the food bowl and it is amazing how often the independent minded cat will come running.

It works on toddlers too.  No, I don’t shake the cat’s food bowl to get my granddaughter’s attention.  What we do is rattle the pacifier.  It is amazing.  She is totally deaf one minute and the next comes running.  I would not believe it if I did not see it.

I am sure that there are political applications.  I will leave those up to you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-160: Baby Talk: One Part Observation

Grandparenting is often a hands-off type of experience.  It is one part observation, maybe more than one part.

Recently my daughter sent some photos.  She does this from time to time.  Never enough but more than I deserve.  The latest brought a smile to my face when I wasn’t even looking at them.  If you are a grandparent you know what I mean.  If you aren’t then I hope you can get a slice of the pie vicariously.

What I was enjoying was not just the pictures of the toddler but the joy in which her father was interacting with her.  It was radiating from the photos.  He was making faces and generating lots of happiness on her face.  I rejoice in the richness of her life and mourn for all those children I see being ignored by parents that have other things to do.

I celebrate knowing that I will receive a visit in a few months and get my chance to make faces and tickle bellies.  For now I will observe and smile.

In regard to the litter box they will also be bringing the cat.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-119: Baby Talk: The New Green Deal

You are all familiar with AOC.  She is the one who brought up the New Green Deal and made an issue of farting cows.  I have noticed that the environmental folks have never thanked the American pioneers who got rid of the massive buffalo herds.  Just think of all the methane gas they were producing.  Maybe we should also do something about the large congregations of wild animals on the African game preserves.

But I digress.

My real concern is the precedent of making an issue of escaping gas.  I worry because I have a granddaughter who often announces her presence by the release of potent methane gas.  Baby gas can really be a show stopper.  Can you see the day when our government, in an effort to keep us save and secure, insists that babies never go out in public without air-tight diapers and that the homes of all new born children install those things they have in science labs that gives a negative pressure to keep killer microbes from escaping.

This of course will demand a cabinet position, Secretary of Baby Farts, and a large budget with regulations to match.

Don’t you love the AOC future?

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-112: Baby Talk: Guardian Angels on Overtime

I don’t know if you ever read the comic strip “Rose Is Rose”.  One of my favorite support characters is Pasquale’s guardian angel.  At times he is a cute little cherub that looks just like Pasquale.  Every once in awhile he is revealed in his fearsome splendor as the warrior that he is.  Angels are not cute, they are scary.  And powerful.  And faithful.

So as a grandparent I want to put in a good word for what we call guardian angels.   I am not sure the term is Biblical.  I did a quick search for the two words in the same verse in both the KJV and NASB and came up empty.  The concept is there,

(Psa 91:11 KJV) For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

but not the exact phrase.  Good enough for me.  I am thanking the guardian angel, or angels, that have an eye on my granddaughter.

I think of the limited chances for harm I have been able to witness.  I have seen drawers and little fingers in situations that made me cringe.  I noticed a music stand that refused to fall over on her head.  I think of the times I have been around to remove things from little fingers.

At the same time I am grateful it was my wife that got stung by the scorpion and me that found the centipede.  My wife didn’t enjoy it.  Neither did the centipede. 

So thanks GA.  I owe you much more than one.  And thank the Father who sent you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-096: Baby Talk: Musical Fantasy

There is a Gaither song in the Christian repertoire that has a line, “How sweet to hold a new born baby...”  It gathers deeper meaning and magnifies your feelings when you have a child or grandchild.  Suddenly you own it.

That is true but momentary.  Life has a way of being unsentimental.  Sooner or later that bundle of joy becomes a drooling, burping, squirming, screaming bucket of “I want my real mommy.”  It has been fun watching my son try to fulfill the uncle role without getting a drop of slobber on him.  He is one of those people who always washes his hands after he holds a baby.  Germs, you know.

While in Japan we had a moment when my granddaughter returned her last two meals to us while strapped in a car seat between me and my daughter.  It just kept coming.  What was fascinating was the calm look on the child’s face.  She never cried or got upset, she just kept barfing.  I wondered where she had stored it all.  For breakfast she had enjoyed oatmeal spiced with cinnamon.  That was the main smell of the moment.  I am not sure I will ever be able to enjoy oatmeal with cinnamon again.

We pulled over and three adults tried to clean it all up.  I have to hand it to the kid, she kept it all in the car seat.  Not once in the entire event did she get upset except when we tried to change her clothes.

The joys of being a grandparent.  Fortunately my son was in the front seat or he might never hold a baby again. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-093: Baby Talk: She Has Rhythm

She can’t walk, or she couldn’t when she was with us in Texas.  She could not even stand up unless she was hanging on to something.  But she had rhythm.  We began to notice that her shoulders and hips would begin to sway when music was on.  At first I thought it was indigestion but after some experiments it was infant dancing.  She really like Father Abraham accompanied by the guitar.

We noticed that when we were in the car and she was fussy that certain music would calm her down.  That brings up thoughts about the effects of music.  I have heard that plants grow better when you play classical music than they do to the sounds of rap.  While I can understand that for anything with a brain I don’t see how that works with plants.  God has truly designed a complex world.  Evolution would certainly have not programed in musical response in plants.

I am not a fan of rap.  A few days ago I had my window open and a car pulled up next to me with its window open.  I had the chance to listen to his choice of “music”.  The most obvious element of his choice was that it only had a loud bass and a steady rhythm.  The second most obvious contribution was vocabulary that would get me fired if I was still working, arrested if out in public and slapped if my mother were still alive. 

I guess I should not gripe if I have to sing Father Abraham or The Hokey Pokey.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-086: Baby Talk: Skill Sets

I am developing my one hand skills.  It only requires one arm to hold a baby, but surely there is something you can do with the other.

Have you ever tried to blow your nose with one hand?  For that matter have you ever had trouble getting a tissue out of a resistant box with only one hand?  This is something that we don’t think about a lot.  Try to use a can opener with one hand.  How about tying your shoes?  The list goes on and holding a baby forces you to grow.

Of course some of us have trouble doing some of these things with two hands. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-066: Baby Talk: Millennial Minefield

We had the pleasure of a month long visit by my daughter and granddaughter.  Since they left we get on Skype and Facetime and watch as the child continues to develop.  Babies take time and effort if you want them to turn out as they should.

This experience has made it clear why millennials are avoiding having children.  Although there are many exceptions, most millennials tend to be obsessed with the world serving them.  They want the good life and they want it now.  Where previous generations drove old cars and bought small fixer-upers for their first home, these young people want sporty wheels and luxury homes with amenities that used to be only in exclusive spas.  If they can’t have that then it is Uber and security apartments, or living at home with mommy.

You can’t do that and do a good job raising children.  This is not just the current crop in their productive years.  It is not a millennial problem but a problem of human nature.  There is a reason historically why the birth rate drops as people become more wealthy.  It is part of the cycle that causes cultures to become lazy and decadent.  Then the barbarians come in and take it all away from them.

The thoughts that babies generate wander all over the place.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-052: Baby Talk: Why So Bright?

We used to ask ourselves why our children were so smart.  Was it heredity or environment?  Now we are forced to move it ahead a generation.  Why is my granddaughter so smart? 

Once you get past the subjective humor of the statement you need to actually ask yourself what makes the difference in children.  As we go out we are more tuned in to watching babies and children and we notice that there are a large number of them that seem to have already tuned out of the learning process.  I remember when I used to arrive at school and walk past children sitting, leaning against the wall and staring at nothing.  In the town I used to be a teacher we had at least seven libraries.  This was a town of about 130,000 people.  In addition to that there were thrift stores that sold books for almost nothing.  And they would sit and stare.  Their brains were already shutting down.

Even allowing for parental exaggeration, our kids were bright.  I can already see it in my granddaughter.  I think one contributor is the constant stimulation of adults.  It was a rare event when an adult was not interacting with the child.  Sometimes she would have three adults giving her attention.  I don’t mean bribing her and giving her everything she wanted.  I mean talking to her, playing games, repeating words, showing her the bumps on the walls and the top of the doors. 

I have seen so many children given a bottle and propped up in a bed.  They are dumped in a play pen and allowed to cry for hours.  Over time I think a lot of bright children start to slow down and dim their potential.

Raising children is a lot of work and so many today are born into homes where the mothers (and probably the fathers) need to spend time tweeting and posting, primping and buffing and deciding whether they look good in the blue or the pink.

Bless the children.

homo unius libri