Sunday, after saying goodbye to our granddaughter following her Boston weekend with us, the wait person remarked, “Grandchildren love being with us because we always buy them anything they want”. And, I fell into the trap of accepting one of society’s programmed beliefs about grandparents and grandchildren. I laughed and said, “you’re right.”
And ever since, that response has been bothering me. Because when I stop to think for myself, my response is loud and clear, “No, you’re wrong!” We give kids no credit for expecting more from us and life. We fall into society’s thinking that all we need and all they want is what money can buy. But, that is far from the truth and we do injustice to all of us when we fall unconsciously into this pattern of thinking.
The truth of the matter is, the good time was being with her from Friday night through Sunday morning with no distractions. We were all hers—not monetarily—but mentally and emotionally. The best times were conversations in the sauna, discovery moments at the Museum and just plain hanging out in the hotel room. And none of these involved money.
Unfortunately, because of this programmed thinking, sometimes we use money to calm feelings of guilt when we can’t be there. Instead of finding a few minutes of real connection, we do something with money. But it’s not the same—and we must remember that. It doesn’t take money to really connect with each other. All it takes is us—all of us (without our pocketbook)—even if it’s only 5 minutes.
Thanks for the memories……..
