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GRANDKIDS SPOILED HERE

THE CELESTE TRIBUNE
SAMMY GRIFFIS

“Kylie, why don’t you sit down and rest awhile? “ Vicki asked hopefully. Our three year-old granddaughter was being quite rambunctious and to be honest the respite was needed more by us than by her. The request, however, went unheeded as she continued with her, shall we say, “spirited play”. In an effort to reach a peaceful solution to the problem (Vicki is not afraid to use force, if necessary) Vicki asked again, “Kylie, why don’t you sit down? You can watch Spongebob Squarepants.”

When she mentioned Spongebob, I looked at the clock. It was twelve forty-five . “No,” I said, “ Max and Ruby is on right now, Spongebob won’t be on until one. I stopped for a moment and thought about what I had just said. “Oh my gosh,“ I wondered, “is this where I am in my life; knowing the schedule of the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon & the Disney Channel by heart?” To make matters worse, when Spongebob is mentioned, I can’t get the catchy theme song out of my head.

“Oh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob Squarepants! Absorbent, yellow and porous is he. Spongebob Squarepants!”! I know, I know, that’s enough.

I have to be honest, though, I like Spongebob. To me, it is one of the funniest shows across all genres on
t. v. As you get to know the characters, it’s even funnier.

You don’t know the characters? Well, I can help. Let’s see, there’s Spongebob’s best friend, Patrick.
I think he is a starfish. Squidward is his co-worker and his boss is Mr. Crab. Then there is Sandy and Plankton……. , but I digress. I was talking about where I am in my life.

I see people younger than me trying to pick up votes to become president of the United States. I’m picking up Little Mermaid dolls off the floor (which comes on at two-thirty, by the way). There are folks who are curators of huge art museums. My “art” consists of water colors, finger paints and markers. I never knew a kitchen table could look so pretty, you know, multi-colored like that and all. There are CEO’s making multi-million dollar decisions. Me? My big decision for the day is whether it will be corny dogs or spaghetti for lunch? Folks meet and have coffee to discuss politics and Wall Street. I have my coffee with a three year old and discuss her pets: Kitty, Bun-Bun the rabbit and a hamster named Fluffy.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that if I wasn’t keeping my grandchild, I would be some big shot doing great things. I have long known I will never be rich or famous. The fact of the matter is, about all most of us can hope for is to have a decent house and car, so we might as well learn to be satisfied with what we have.

Still, sometimes I think about how my life would have been if I had transferred to another location instead of leaving Procter & Gamble when the Dallas plant shut down. Instead of watching The Wonder Pets, (12:00 p. m. ch. 171, Dish Network) , why, by now, I would probably be the ……………and if I didn’t have to sit here and share my nachos with Kylie while we watch Blues Clues, (3 o’clock each weekday), I coulda been a…….

Nah, to tell the truth, I don’t think I would change a thing about my life now. I don’t believe there is an “etched in stone” blueprint for success. What success means to one person might not mean a thing to another. At this point in time, I can tell you what it means to me, though. It’s a brown-haired, brown-eyed little girl that asks, “do you know how much I love you, Pop-pop?”

“No,” I answer.

“This much,” she shows me as she stretches her arms as wide as she can.

“ That’s a lot of love,” I say and we both giggle.

“ Now, let‘s go pop some corn so we can watch Scooby-Doo“.(Tivo’d from last night)

We settle down on the couch. I put my arm around Kylie and soon she is asleep. I look around the room and see all the things I have been blessed with, but it is when my eyes turn back to Kylie sleeping that a warm feeling envelops me.

“Man,” I think to myself, “I am one lucky guy. All this plus a Dodge pickup with a Hemi engine in it. Life couldn’t be sweeter”

Looks like you're not the only talented writer in the family! That was just precious!

Ahh Sweet Pop Pop!
You are truely blessed VICKI.

Good stuff, lucky you Vicki. Just one more thing I'd like to see a picture of the Dodge with the Hemi. I love trucks.
lol. Seriously, that is really great, that he feels that way and that he writes about it. And that he has that truck.

Sis

You are making good memories for those Grandkids to carry with them for the rest of their lives. Thank God for Grandparents.. LuvHeather

Vicki,

It touches my heart seeing the love you all have for your granddaughter. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

Your wish is my command! (hee)

What a heartfelt article. It spoke volumes to me. Any one who has memories like that earns an A+ in my book. Our granddaughter, Sadie, 4 years old, stayed with us for the weekend. She too loves Spongebob and asks to watch it even when it's not showing on cable. We bought her a DVD of Spongebob. Needless to say by the time she went home on Sunday we, too, were singing the Spongebob ditty.

Absolutley their favorite. It is growing on me!