01/01/2024
Reflections by Lobo
As we begin a New Year, seems like a good time to look back and reflect. Many moments over the years to cherish. One measure of time is how at the beginning, some of the little ones would call me Daddy. Realization of how I had aged began when they started calling me Grandpa.
Some things are timeless, like rolling down a hill. On the toddler playground, there’s a little mound by one of the trees. We call it Pooh mountain, since they’re in the Pooh Room. It’s so cute watching them trudge up and down that “mountain”. Well, once a year we show them how to roll down a hill. One year we had a little girl that was evidently an over achiever. She tried to roll UP the hill.
Sometimes there’s the realization of how things every kid knew how to do when we were little is no longer done. You know those bags we get at the fast food restaurants ? We all knew how to pop them. Many of these kids don’t. So I made it my mission to teach the schoolagers how to pop bags. After popping the bags, we would ball them up, divide into 2 teams and throw them at each other. If you ever hear them talk about having a Texas snowball fight, that’s what they’re referring to.
One time in the breakfast room, I sat down with the kids. One little girl from our pre-school class asked what those spots on my arm were. Beauty marks, I explained. Emphatically, she clarified that only girls get beauty marks. I acknowledged that she was correct and they are what they call age spots.
Several times a year I would have occasion to discuss things with the schoolagers. On Veterans Day and Memorial Day it would take on a more military and patriotism emphasis. One time a young fellow came up to me afterwards and asked if during the war did I use guns or bows and arrows.
Listening in on schoolagers conversations can be interesting, to say the least. An occasion that I get to do that is when we roast marshmallows . After building a little campfire out back on the asphalt, we sit around, roast marshmallows and they talk… and talk.
Another time where I get to listen in is when I’d take them to school in the morning. This one time 3 kindergartners were right behind me. They were telling knock knock jokes and they were rolling with laughter. They were the worst knock knock jokes I had ever heard. They didn’t make any sense. But, they loved them.
When working with the older schoolagers (Blue Stars)I call them the Liberty Kids because one of the things they do is watch the TV series of that name.
On occasion we do coin collecting. And they sit and talk. I don’t remember having that much to say when I was that age. That aside, their attention span, or lack thereof, comes into play when they separate the coins by date.
Something else that I discovered most have not done, is dig a hole. For Independence Day, we erect a Liberty Pole. Courtesy of Hurricane Ike, we have a long branch that we use each time for our Liberty Pole. First we have to dig a hole to set our pole in. It is a blast watching them use a shovel for the first time.
On occassion, we will talk about codes. After bringing up different codes such as the Cowboy’s code, a Knight’s code or the military Code of Conduct, I would tell them that the best code in the world is the10 Commandments . After asking who could tell me one of the 10, a fellow said, “Don’t steal”. Very good, then we talked about it. A second one one said,”thou shall not commit adultery”. I’m not kidding, it sounded like he was reading straight out of the Bible. Okay, moving right along. No discussion .
Near the beginning of covid, it was time for our Battle of San Jacinto field trip. While at the Juan Seguin park, we took pictures. Though wearing covid masks, I said,”Smile”. One young lady immediately questioned ,”What?.” That still brings a smile to my face when I think about her.
Thinking back over the years, they all still bring a smile to my face.
