When my sons were younger, I started a binder for each of them that contained their yearly school pictures, their report cards and little newspaper articles. Sometimes their names were listed in the articles for achievements in school, sports and Cub Scouts. Recently, one of my grandsons saw the articles and made the comment that he wished his name were in a newspaper. Later that night I realized I could make that happen.
Bradley Jelinek, thank you for giving me the idea for this month’s column.
August can be a difficult month for school-age children. Will their best friends be in the same class? Will they get the teacher they want? Will they find the backpack and lunch box that will be exactly what they had in mind?
I remember searching for all those things listed on the back-to-school lists. Life could be stressful getting everything that was needed. Did the folders really need to be plastic and different colors? I was ecstatic when the Home and School Association offered to get all the supplies and relieve me of the responsibility of finding everything on the list. But it didn’t relieve me of the responsibility of making sure my sons started the school year with a positive attitude.
Bradley’s comment made me wonder if I were doing anything to bolster my grandchildren’s confidence or help them develop a positive attitude. The older ones have phones and can receive e-mails. I remembered when a card received in the mail could make a child feel so important. In today’s world, I wonder if little text messages can make a child feel just as important.
I’m going to hope that a text from a grandmother is just as important as seeing your name in the newspaper. I’m going to try to send more texts to them. I also should send more texts to friends who now live far away from me. It doesn’t cost any money and it doesn’t take long to do, but they would know I was thinking of them.
Just curious, can you think of anyone to whom you might want to send a text message? Has your day ever been brightened because you received a text from a friend?
Then I thought that if I were a fairy godmother instead of a grandmother, perhaps I could make all my grandchildren’s wishes come true. I never quite got the right lead in for that comment to be written.
Oh! The magic and powers of a fairy godmother. Bippety bobity boo!
