![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/IMG_5578.jpg\" "\\"Yes,")
<\/a>Skyping with Aunt Kasia<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
When we were parents of three small children and, say, my wife had to be gone for the evening leaving me with the kids, I never considered myself babysitting them.\u00a0 I fathered my children.\u00a0 Just so with Rider.\u00a0 We grandparented our grandson.\u00a0 We weren’t the hired hands slogging through a task but, just one generation removed from being his parents, we cared for him in the only way loving grandparents can.\u00a0 And for the next seven or so hours (let me be frank about the experience), we had a great time with the child.<\/p>\n
<\/a>How-dya-do? My name’s Rider.<\/p><\/div>\n
We arrived to find the little man-child standing on his own for a few seconds at a time, and even, when his one-year old sense of reality wasn’t telling him he needed to hold on to someone’s hands to walk, take two, three and (brilliantly) four steps on his own.\u00a0 While his parents were still there we took pictures and videos of the gifted child performing this\u00a0 miraculous feat.<\/p>\n
<\/a>With a little help from…Grandpa!<\/p><\/div>\n
For the first hour or so with Rider, we spent time playing.\u00a0 We are fascinated by what an\u00a0 attentive, observant, curious, outgoing child he is.\u00a0 We made up a game in which we put a small plastic toy into a lidded compartment on a short tabletop toddler toy.\u00a0 Over and over again he opened the lid and handed the toy to one of us while the other replaced it with another of a different color.\u00a0\u00a0 After more play and skyping with his Aunt K, we got things together (changing venue with a baby is always a production) for a walk in the neighborhood.\u00a0 I love pushing Rider in a stroller, walking along with my wife, wondering what passersby are thinking.\u00a0 (Is that dashing couple his youthful grandparents or his slightly older parents?)\u00a0 As we approached the playground, Rider squealed with anticipation and excitement, recognizing where we were going.\u00a0 He isn’t quite old enough to run around with the other children, but he loved watching them play while we pushed him on the swing.<\/p>\n
<\/a>I like this swing, but I love Grandma!<\/p><\/div>\n
After the park, after walking up and down more brownstone house-lined Brooklyn streets, we stopped for food at the Kimchi Grill for Korean beef and kimchi with lettuce and Korean pickles, a sort of Chosun Chef’s salad.\u00a0 We set Rider up with Cheerios (and shared some of the beef) like we were old pros at this.\u00a0 We are!\u00a0 I’m pretty sure parenting a little one is like riding a bike or typing: you don’t really forget how to do it, though you may lose a little of the stamina that 24-hour childcare requires.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Aren’t grandparents supposed to be taking me out for ice cream? So what are we doing at this kimchee place?!<\/p><\/div>\n
Then more walking and home, finally, for a little more playing, supper for Rider, a bath and, at last, bed.\u00a0 Each activity with our grandson, each thing we did was fun, was pleasant.\u00a0 And even as he started to get very tired and clearly ready for bed, he kept his good humor, partly his determination to play and watch and experience as much as possible and partly because (and I’m not at all biased here) he is simply a good-natured, happy boy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our trip to Brooklyn a couple weekends ago was partly a gift for Rider’s father (he turned 27 that day) but mostly, naturally, another opportunity for Rider’s grandmother and me to spend time with our dear, sweet grandtyke.\u00a0 Tending Rider … Continue reading