Category: grandfather

Posted in grandfather, grandparenting, gratitude

The blessing of overnight grandchildren

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Edson Saldaña on Unsplash

“We have the girls Friday night.”

The “girls” are three granddaughters, ages five, three, and one. We’ve had the older two for a sleepover before. This is the first time for all three.

But we raised three children. Along with three dogs. Come on, how hard could it be? We’ve got bunk beds. We’ve got a port-a-crib for the little one. Tons of toys. And snacks. Oh, boy, do we have snacks! Three girls? Overnight? Bring it!

We met at our usual rendezvous spot, a Dunkin’ parking lot half-way between our homes. The handoff included a double-wide stroller, a backpack full of clothes, and essential stuffed animals.

So far, so good.

By the way, we also have some dogs. One big dog, a five month old Great Dane and a smaller dog, a West Highland white terrier. The girls are used to a big Florida brown dog at home. But they aren’t used to ours, a Great Dane puppy and a overly-friendly West Highland white terrier. This is going to be a challenge.

The older two immediately got to work on pretend food, magnetic dress up dolls, and a basket full of baby toys. For some reason, older kids are still fascinated by plastic donuts, rattles, and small stuffed animals. Number three? Her scream was pretty clear: “How about some food?”

After some back yard swinging, it was time for supper. Unicorn-shaped Kraft macaroni and cheese, sliced strawberries, and a fewraspberries kept everyone happy. Unlike the grandsons, there were no desperate pleas for post-supper popcorn. After brushing teeth, we read a few stories, and the three were off to bed. They all must have been tired, because I didn’t hear a peep from any of them.

I got up early Saturday morning to feed and walk the dogs as quietly as I could. I was amazed: no one woke up until about 7 am. Impressive.

“What do you want for breakfast?” All three agreed on pancakes. I cooked up a batch and each girl ate three drizzled with syrup. The one-year-old also ate a breakfast bar, a handful of Rice Krispies, and raspberries. The dogs did their job well, eating everything that fell to the floor.

Somehow, we got out the door by ten and headed to the Jacksonville zoo before we safely delivered them to their parents in the afternoon.

In the past few years, I’ve met couples who had no children. Which means no grandchildren. They would never experience a weekend like this. I’m thankful that we do. What a gift to hear the laughter ands screams, the requests and demands, and the prayers and the tears of these little ones.

Posted in grandfather, grandparenting, Life

Another overnight adventure

Posted on by William Douthwaite

I thoroughly enjoy every time we get to have some of our grandchildren for an overnight. I never had the chance to sleepover at a grandparent’s. I just didn’t get to spend much time with them or know them very well. But I get to see some of my nine grandchildren at least once a week.

This past Saturday, two of my grandsons (ages 8 and 5) stayed with us while their parents celebrated their anniversary. I think it’s interesting how we spent our time together.

First, we played a lot of basketball. On the way home from picking them up, we stopped at a craft fair not too far from our home. Not much for kids except for food. I was pretty excited about an outer perimeter of food trucks. Tacos, BBQ, fries, cajun, hoagies, kettle corn – and Chick-fil-A. Guess what they chose? Yep, chicken, waffle chips and Powerade from the Chick-fil-A trailer. (I got a 6″ hoagie. And I know what a “hoagie” is since I grew up in Philadelphia.)

When we got back home, it was basketball. I have a moveable hoop to set up in the driveway. The older guy has a season of rec league behind him, so he’s a pretty good shooter. The younger had to work hard to get an lighter ball through the hoop I set at eight foot. But they were out there for a couple of hours.

After that, snack time. Apples, Taki, and goldfish crackers tided them over until supper time. You’ll notice that food plays a major role in their lives at home and away. Don’t worry, they burn off all the calories.

After snack number whatever, I showed them a cool motorized engine we bought for our wooden train set. I helped them build a couple of loops and they sent long lines of cars around and around the inner, outer, and middle loops.

“Can we go outside?” Of course! Guess what kept them busy for the next hour? Pine needles. Our yard, flanked by two wooded lots, is full of them. The two boys spent the next hour raking and gathering pine needles to fill up the play fort and bury the younger grandson. My yard? Raked and looking nice!

Supper time! As I made my always delicious homemade pizza, they snacked on apple slices, Taki, grapes, and goldfish crackers. I was lucky to get a couple of slices of pizza. They doused their slices in red pepper flakes, Italian salad dressing, parmesan cheese, and ranch dressing. Yum.

Once that was gone, we got ready for the pre-bedtime movie. I gave the younger one a quick bubble bath and the older decided on thje 2018 edition of “The Grinch.” As soon as we started the movie, I heard fervent pleas for “popcorn.” Okay. I microwaved a large bowl for each, and we laughed through the movie.

Once the movie was over, we brushed teeth and fought over who would sleep in the top bunk. Younger had it last time, so it was Older’s turn. After brushing teeth, the two yawned through the Lord’s Prayer, and it was lights out (with a sound machine).

Whew. We were exhausted. And it was only 8 pm! These two grandsons only have two speeds: 100% or fast asleep. My wife and I knew we better turn in early. Before you know it, the sun would be up and they would be awake!

Posted in grandfather, grandparenting, Life

A remarkable find: the skeleton of a dead lizard

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“There’s something in here!”

My four-year-old grandson decided to get into the ball basket on our porch. He still fits, but just barely. To fit, he had to toss out each ball, and work his way to the bottom of the 2×2 foot basket.

He threw out fuzzy snowballs from some Christmas in the past. Plastic baseballs we used to hit in the yard. Pimple balls – inflatable balls covered with little bumps. Various colored balls that every grandchild played with as babies. Balls that light up when you bounce them on the ground. A couple of soccer balls we kick around the backyard. A little basketball with dog teeth marks in it. Little balls that roll down chutes.

He unearthed Andy and Annie (from Toy Story). And “something.” He was almost at the bottom of the basket when he came upon something he couldn’t identify.

I went over to see what he had found. It was awesome. It was the dried skeletal remains of a lizard.

Yes, this is awesome on many levels.

First, it means that the lizard who had been living on our porch, who we could never catch or expel for the porch, was an ex-lizard.

Second, just look at this guy. You can see his whole skeleton. LIttle boys and grandpas get a lot of joy from skeletons, lizard, dinosaur, or human.

Third, he’s dried and preserved. We could take him home and keep him along with other treasures we’ve accumulated. We’ll put him on a shelf or in a drawer. Mom will never find out.

Have you ever gone to a museum or a science center to see the dinosaur skeletons? They are huge, awesome, and memorable. On a smaller scale, we have our own dinosaur-esque bones. We can start our own museum or road-side attraction!

I think this is one of the reasons grandfathers are so important. Moms will scream, “Get that thing out of here. Now go wash your hands!” Grandmothers will call for grandfathers to take care of the skeletal invaders. Dads will say, “Go ask your mom if you can keep it.” But grandpa (aka moi) will come up with all kinds of cool reasons why you should take it home and keep it.

Posted in grandfather, grandparenting

A Costco experience

Posted on by William Douthwaite

My granddaughter Cameron and did the Costco experience yesterday. I call it an “experience” because we both were captivated by the sights and sounds of this warehouse store.

How could you not be? Within seconds of walking in, row after row of enormous TVs with amazing pictures caught our eye. Then we walked by a cooler full of NY strip steaks for $7.99 per pound. It was hard to ignore the giant fans slowly turning on the ceiling. Until we rounded the corner and saw the Christmas trees! We were both mesmerized by the 10 foot lighted trees that alternated from white to colored lights. Until we saw the baby Jesus in the middle of a giant nativity smack dab in the center of Costco.

I lost count of how many times I said, “Whoa!” as we rounded a corner and saw yet another bigger than life offering:

  • Like a bin containing hundreds of pumpkins, all bigger than my granddaughter.
  • Containers of cheese balls larger than my granddaughter.
  • A display of roses in every color of the rainbow.
  • A package of refills for an Oral-B electric toothbrush that would last me the rest of my life.
  • Trays of pomegranets, which reminded me of my trip to Israel, where mountains of pomegranets were everywhere. There were much more expensive, though, far away from their home.
  • Bags and bags and bags of chips made from all kinds of root veggies, everything but potatoes. We got a couple for Gigi! But we passed on the tub of Beetroot powder, which may be good for you, but will never find a place in our shopping cart!
  • And people. So many people. We got there at 10 am when the store opened. Fifteen minutes later, the store was packed. At least half a dozen people came up to Cameron and commented on how cute she was. And she ate it up. She is a people- and a Costco- person!

Posted in children, grandfather

I was just reading to you

Posted on by William Douthwaite

YertleA few months ago, I had the privilege of holding my newest grandchild, Daniel, just hours after his birth. He was swaddled snugly in a dinosaur-covered blanket, sporting a matching cap. I quickly accepted the offer to hold him and said the first thing that came to my mind. “I was reading a story to you yesterday, remember?”

Less than twenty-four hours before, I had sat down to read one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books to Daniel’s big brother, Elijah. Elijah soon lost interest and galloped away to do something else. But his mom, exactly 40 weeks pregnant with little brother was also sitting on the sofa, slowly rubbing her belly. So I kept on reading Yertle the Turtle, delighting as the precarious tower of turtles collapsed, leaving Yertle with a kingdom of nothing more than the mud into which he fell.

As I chatted with Daniel, I paused to marvel at all the voices I the world that he would recognize. His mom and dad, of course. His big brother, grandparents, and a few aunts and uncles. On more than one occasion, I would stoop down and “talk to the tummy.” Those on the outside would roll their eyes as I asked, “What’s your name?” “When’s your birthday?” and “Whatcha doin’ in there?” I like to believe Daniel merely thought, “Don’t worry, Apa, I’ll let you know soon!”

I like having conversations with little people. Even before they can respond with words, I can tell they are listening very carefully. Sometimes they’ll respond by looking deeply into your eyes. Or they’ll twist their mouth into interesting little shapes. They squint when you blow in their face and say, “It’s windy day!” And sometimes they look excited as you move their legs to make them run as fast as they can or move their arms to make them dance.

I love to read stories to kids, especially my grandchildren. I like to think I’m pretty good at it, too. In fact, I like to believe that story got the show on the road. A few hours after “the end” the contractions began. I think my young audience wanted to see the pictures that went along with the story!

Posted in grandfather, grandparenting, helping

Soda explosion? No thanks.

Posted on by William Douthwaite

7114275_f520I had a bonus day with my grandson Elijah yesterday. His mom wasn’t feeling well, so he spent the day and night at our house while she got some rest.

The first thing on our agenda: pick up a prescription for mom, along something for her to drink. That doesn’t sound too hard. When we arrived at CVS, we first grabbed some soda and some Gatorade, then made our way back to the pharmacy counter. Determined to be the world’s best two-and-a-half-year-old helper, Elijah insisted on carrying one of the drinks. First the Gatorade. Then the soda. Then the Gatorade. Then the soda. Repeat and repeat and repeat.

There was only one person ahead of us in line at the pickup, but they certainly weren’t in any hurry. My assistant waited with me as patiently as he could, which meant bouncing in place until it was our turn. As I spoke to the tech at the cash register, I heard a man chuckling as he sat and waited off to the side. He enjoyed watching Elijah shake the bottle of soda up and down, occasionally dropping it and chasing it across the floor before picking it up again.

Well, the prescription wasn’t even ready. So first things first. We’re definitely not taking  that soda back home to mom. Back into the cooler it goes. Is that bad? Not for me. No soda explosions on my to-do list.

The store wasn’t big enough to contain Elijah’s energy, so we touched every candy bar in from of the checkout, bought our drink, and got out of there to grab some lunch. We had a lot more fun stuffing fries into our mouths at McDonald’s than we would have had galloping through the aisles in CVS. When we were done, we opted for the drive-through prescription pickup, and we were on our way home.

Yeah, pretty much anywhere we go together is an adventure!

Posted in grandfather, movies

Movie day: “The Star”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

img_8139.jpgToday was movie day. My wife and I took our two oldest grandchildren to see “The Star,” an animated and creatively adventurous telling of the Christmas story, involving the experience and help of assorted animals.

Since the movie was released about six weeks ago, so we had to search for a theater still showing it. One about a half an hour from our home still had showings today and tomorrow, so the four of us headed out for the noon show. Both the three and two year old had sat through movies in a theater before, so both had popcorn on their minds when we arrived. The lady at the counter told us we could save a lot of money just getting a large popcorn and drink to split between them, but we knew better. Each grandchild had to have their own and they had to have the same, even if it meant a larger investment. It worked like a charm. The snacks lasted them the whole 90 minute show!

I thought “The Star” was well done. Yes, it is a wild departure from the biblical account, with a large cast of talking animals. But from the annunciation to the birth in Bethlehem, I believe that the plans and miracles of God along with the faith and struggles of Mary and Joseph were well presented. I enjoyed it, laughed out loud a lot, and especially liked a camel’s mishearing of Herod’s concern about a “king of the shoes.”26168646_10155353178098460_213610419848755604_n

 

Posted in family, grandfather

Grandpa Golcher

Posted on by William Douthwaite

three guysThis is one of the few pictures I have of my dad, grandfather (my mom’s dad) and myself.  I think I am about three years old here. How many pictures will my grandchildren have with their grandfathers? Hundreds and hundreds.

Grandpa Julius Golcher is somewhat of an enigma. When a friend who knew his way around genealogy attempted to do a family tree on my mom’s side, he could go no further back than Julius’ parents in Costa Rica. Which is interesting, because we were always told he was from Argentina.

As you can see from the picture, he wore one of those old wired hearing aids. He worked as a machinist in Philadelphia, but was placed in the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry at some point, suffering from a form of Parkinson’s disease attributed to the Spanish influenza epidemic of the early 20th century.

I do remember that he primarily spoke Spanish, which means that there must be a compelling story of how he met his wife Mary Fox, my mom’s mom. She immigrated from England and worked as a nanny in Philadelphia, which is interesting because we were always told she was a governess, but census records tell a different story. Ancestry on her side only goes back as far as a lighthouse somewhere along the North Sea. (There are too many “Mary Foxes” from that time frame to know which branch of the tree to follow.) She came to America with two sisters, Peg and Elsie. I knew her much better, and will write about her in a future post.

Somehow that unlikely couple got together and had three daughters, but I’m not sure there is anyone left who knows that story. They raised their family in a row home on Rosalie Street in the Olney section of northeast Philadelphia.

Me with grandpa golcher
Here we are in NE Phila when I was 15 months old.

That’s all I’ve got on Grandpa Golcher. But I am pretty sure that my brother and sister and I all got our thick heads of hair from him.

 

Posted in Christmas, grandfather

Christmas ‘ites

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Screen Shot 2017-11-27 at 1.36.13 PMMy grandson Elijah was spending the day with me while his mom was out shopping with my wife. One of our projects that day was putting up the Christmas tree. I just knew it would be a memorable moment when I plugged in the lights and he saw them for the first time. He’s been watching and waiting for Christmas “‘ites” for weeks. I was not disappointed. His delighted “Oh-Oh” still makes me laugh out loud.

What is it about Christmas ‘ites that excites and delights people of every age? We’ll stop to look at house with simple candles in the window as well as those covered with thousands of colored bulbs. We’ll go out of our way to drive by those homes that are lit up in creative ways. We’ll climb ladders, walk roofs and wrap trees to light up our homes and yards. We’ll got for walks at night, as dark lonely streets suddenly come to life with the rhythmic blinking of strings of lights. We’ll stop and pause, on foot or in our cars, just to gaze at a brightly lit home we never really noticed before. Unsightly strings hanging from eaves take on magical shapes and designs when darkness comes and all that can be seen is the light.

Just as a starry sky on a clear cool night reminds us of that night out side of Bethlehem lit up by a multitude of the heavenly host, perhaps a simple string of lights takes us back to that earthly moment of heavenly glory. And who wouldn’t like some of that as we pray and wait for the brightness of a new day in a world where there is far too much darkness.