Doesn't Take Much

by Sam Crenshaw

In my seventh decade, I am constantly amazed at how little it takes to please an old man.   Recently, my daughter, Shannon was visiting us with her husband, Doug and their young son, Joshua—heart of my heart—and like always, he knows how to play his PawPaw like a fiddle.   Unable to form very many words yet, he still knows how to get his point across.   Simple things like grabbing me by the finger to guide me to our upright freezer, he points to the handle, which is much too high for him to open.   Why?   Because he knows where we keep the popsicles.   Victory achieved by the small boy.   How does a bear sound, Joshua?

“Grrrr!” he exclaims with ferocity. How does a dog sound? “Woof! Woof!” How about a cat? “Meowww!” Oh! Joshua man, you are so smart! He smiles big. Suddenly, I get an idea.   “Come on with PawPaw, Puddin.”

Joshua, heart of Pawpaw's heart.

He reaches for my large hand with his tiny one, and I feel like a million bucks.   We walk hand in hand around this old house to the back.   I unlock my zero-turn lawnmower, climb aboard and reach for him.   His eyes sparkle as I lift him up on the large seat.   I choke the mower, push the gas knob, put on the safety brake and turn the key—I do not engage the blade!—Varoomm! The engine comes to life.   Puddin smiles as I ease the big machine from its spot and cruise very slowly onto the lawn.   Oh joy!   I am happy!   He is happy!   Could it be any better?

We drive around the yard, slowly of course.   Ducking the long strands of moss hanging from the trees, it becomes an adventure for the small tyke.   I am thinking that he must really think that I am great.   Grandfathers have a great role to play in the lives of small children.   We don’t have very strict rules such as those that our children lived under.   I ponder often what must be the difference?   Actually, I think most grandparents know that it is because we had to work so much of the time when our own children were small and now, I am an old man who doesn’t have to work all the hours of my youth.   Our children have grown up, taken the reigns of parents, and allowed us to have a role in their lives.   Many people say that grandparents spoil little children because we can send them home at the end of the day or the visit.   I think that is an over-simplification of the subject.   Not arguing that we don’t do our share of spoiling them, but perhaps we have a little—no a lot—more wisdom than when we were parenting.

How quickly our children have grown up!   How quickly our grandchildren are growing up!   Maybe there is something to be said about grandparents treating our grands differently than we did our children, but the downside is that we know our time with them will be short here on the earth. Oh yes!   I spun him round and round on the zero-turn, and he loved it, and I can feel his love for me too.

© 2007 Sam Crenshaw

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contact Sam at sam@samcrenshaw.com

If you liked Doesn't Take Much, you might like reading Gardening Ain't Easy or Daddy, don't get dead