Some Things Never Change

I recently moved into my daughter,son-in-law and two grand children's home. It's a little different being around the two children 24/7. Before the big move I would see them often but at the end of the day I would go home to my apartment and maybe not see them again for another 3 or 4 days. It'll take some adjusting for all concerned. Being with them all the time and listening to their dialog and interaction with one another has been very interesting,comical and brings back a flood of memories of both when my own children were young and when I myself was a child with 8 brothers and sisters. My 4 year old granddaughter came crying to me the other day saying that her older brother, 7 years old, was looking at her.He wasn't hitting, pushing, name calling, etc. He was looking at her and she didn't like it. Oh my goodness! Where have I heard that before? For a moment it was 30 years ago in my home with my own children. My daughter who was probably about 6 or 7 years old at the time came crying to me that her brother, one year older, was looking at her. Again her brother wasn't really doing anything to hurt her but it was that dreaded look. The look that tortures. The look that says " I know I can really bug you just by starring at you and not really get into any serious trouble for it" I suppose it's an act of intimidation and teasing. As I told my daughter and repeated to my granddaughter, your brother is doing this because he knows it makes you mad so just ignore him or stare back at him. That usually worked, for for a little while. Another recent squabble with the two grandchildren was over personal space. In the family room there is a large sectional couch. Each child wants his own space without the other one touching the other or even getting very close. So they each have their own section of the couch to sit on and heaven help you if you put one toe on the others personal section of the couch. You just don't do that!! Oh believe me, there are times when you can't separate them and they do bestow random acts of kindness upon each other. This personal space issue reminds me of when I was a child and my sister (one of 6), who was just 11 months younger than me, and I shared a bed. We used to put safety pins (remember them ? )down the middle of the bed and you didn't dare put so much as a finger on the other side of the bed. If you did, well , you kinda knew what you were in for. With so many kids in the family and having to share everything I think we were just desperate to have something that was only ours. All of this remembering just to say that no matter what generation we are in human nature is the same. Kids do the same things, say the same things and fight over the same things whether it was 50 years ago or today. This grandma feels extremely blessed to have lived long enough to see how some things never change. There's something comforting about that.

Teri