Grandpa Trainer

For about a week I was receiving some training in my own home.  As many folks know there are a variety of training classes and programs to learn a variety of skills.  In our society there is an area that is sorely lacking for training.  That would be parenting and grandparenting.  Oh, I've heard jokes about someone should be licensed before they can have children and all that.  I am also certainly aware of parenting classes that are available through a variety of social agencies as well as some churches.  I've even taught some of those.  But there are very few trainings that will come and train you in your home.

Well for a week I had a great trainer come to my home and give me the low down on how to be a grandpa.  Her name is Torrence and she is a cute girl who is an expert in the field of being a child and so she came to teach Lisa and I some things we need to know about having a child in the home again.  She has a unique teaching style in that she doesn't use any language at all.  At least not with me.  She may well give her parents the lowdown on my progress in private.  But with me she only uses grunts and various other sounds to guide you in not only getting her what she wants but a couple of times in making sure you didn't forget she was there. 

As with most trainers she had great confidence in not only her own abilities but also that you would eventually get it.  She knows her stuff and was happy to teach me as well. 

I think I learned some o the pleasure of being a grandparent.  Of course there is the normal oft mentioned idea that a grand parent can pass the child back to their parents as needed but what I learned is that things that bothered me as a parent actually gave me some joy now as I approach grand parenting.  It is a joy to watch the next generation learn and grow.  I didn't notice the parental feelings growing in me of "when will you act like an adult".  Things that were bothersome as a parent are joys or neutral as a grandparent.  I noticed that a child crying didn't bother me as much as they did when I was a parent.  I could even smile some during the crying.  It possibly might be that my hearing has dulled to a point where it doesn't have the same effect on me that it once did. 

As a grandparent wannabee I can see the simple joys more and appreciate little simple things that I might have overlooked as a parent.  Torrence taught me the pleasure of stairs, that is watching her go up them and down them, having confidence that she could manage them and not fall on them.  She taught me the pleasure of cheerios again as she enjoyed eating those more than the fancier fare that we had for dinner.  She taught me the truism of "Your value escalates when you hug a baby".   

One day I expect to have actual real live grandchildren and who knows what they will look like or sound like or be like much less what they will become.  But I appreciate all the training I can get so I can be prepared.  Thanks -- Torrence!

She has decided to give her parents some additional training in parenting (they have almost completed their sophomore year) and I suspect is keeping her eye open for some more hopeful grandparent wannabees to give advance classes to.