A World With No Borders

When I was a boy, coloring books had frames and borders around each picture.

You had to color not only within the lines of the picture, but above all, you did not color outside of the borders of the picture.

Have you seen the coloring books that children are using today? There are no borders around the picture.

Where will this end? Children may think that they can be whatever they want? Can you imagine a world with no borders?

Crayon Rules

The most important crayon rule is this: A crayon in the hand of a child not sitting, means a crayon mark on the wall.

Second rule: Despite the marketing and the false labeling, there is no such thing as washable crayon marks.

Hidden rule: Crayon marks only come off with heavy scrubing.

Use these rules to brighten your coloring experience.

Read To Me, Grampy

At one and a half, her vocabulary is limited. She can't say "Read to me, Grampy". So she brings a book over, and then with the book clutched tightly between her two hands, she lifts up her arms.

I look at her and see a book suspended in mid air. I bend over, pick her up and place her on my lap. Together we explore the book cover. Then we carefully open the book and begin our reading. After reading each page, we explore the illustrated art work and find objects in the art that go along with the story. As I point to each word and then say it, she tries to repeat it. As I point out objects in the artwork, she does as well.

In childrens books, the pages come alive with words and art.

The Underground World

As part of my daily commute, I have to take the subway known as the Red Line. It was named the Red Line on August 26,1965. The color Red was chosen because the line ended at Harvard University, whose school color is crimson.

There is no public parking strategy to encourage public transportation. As a result, parking is for residents of towns that the tracks go through.

Public transportation as it exists today, is Darwinism at it's best. Only those that can adapt can survive.

The Scent Of A Crayon

The French refer to the scent of wine as it's bouquet. Similarly, the quality of a crayon can be determined by the richness of it's bouquet. Crayons not made by Crayola, do not have the full body aroma as crayola crayons.

Here we see a crayon artist in search of the finest pink crayon to be used in her art.

Learning How to Slide with Grampy

The Birthdays

The Road To The Super-Bowl

What does a three year old do while waiting for the pizza to arrive?

If you are Ethan, you take a napkin, open it up, and spread it over the salad bowl as a road for your jeep.

Toy jeeps must have four wheel drive to be able to climb the sides of salad bowls.

Grampy Ball

He says "Grampy Ball", but he means Grampy, let's play ball.

The remarkable thing about kids, is that if you don't understand what they are saying, they will keep on saying it over and over and over until you do.

Pine Cone

Eric wanted to share with me a pine cone that he had found.

Children seem to have genuine joy in sharing what they have with others.

Color My World

Family style restaurants should be avoided by people without children. They don't know the hidden dangers of families with children.

While I was getting the crayons out, Eric had taken the top off of the pepper shaker and then he shook the pepper shaker.

That's when I took the empty crayon box and blew thru it. Eric didn't know that a crayon box can also be used as a whistle.

Once again, Grampy has added value to the dinner experience.

Pretty In Pink

So much light shines thru her, around her and from her that she stands out like a lighthouse.

She certainly has a way of brightening my world!

The Edible Whistle

Janelle has discovered that she can whistle thru her ziti noodles.

She has also discovered that she can blow sauce thru the hollow ziti onto Grampy's shirt.

I should buy stock in oxy clean.

Men Are Hunters

How do we learn to eat with silverware? Ethan is discovering that in order to place the food in your mouth, you first have to get in on the fork. But how do you spear cucumbers?

If you're Ethan, you place the cucumber in your hand and shove it up the prongs of the fork. This process allows for at least two cucumbers to be jammed together at the same time.

While adults nibble politely at their food, Ethan is busy loading up his food cannon.

The Smile

Eric can really turn on the charm when he smiles. If a smile is worth a million bucks, then he is a millionaire. His whole face really lights up with his smile.

I wish I had a smile like that!

Recession and Teenage Love

I had to have a root canal today. So I went to Ihop for some "soft" food. Three tiny Ihop original pancakes were served on a small plate to make them appear larger then they were. Overwhelming evidence of a recession!

Two young teenagers in love sat across from me and I had to listen to their loud conversation. I came close to choking when he said to the young lady "if I call you by a different name, then people will think you're someone else" and she responded with giggles. I felt like that moment in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" when Jimmy Stuart and Donna Reed are throwing stones at the windows in the old abandoned house, and the old guy on the porch tells Jimmy Stuart to shut up and kiss her and then states that "youth is wasted on the young".

But I have to admit their silly conversation was charming and had me wondering if youth is wasted on the young.

Wheels Of A Car Go Round

Wooden cars are so environmentally friendly! Children are forced to behave in them or they will get splinters.

They will take you anywhere your imagination wants to go. And with wooden cars, the destination doesn't matter.

It's all about the journey.

Pay Before You Leave

Ethan was all by himself in Bunnys grocery market. He had filled his grocery cart with produce. He had weighed them. And he was playing with the cash register. He stepped aside from the register to play with his cart. An older kid came in and started playing with the idle cash register.

Ethan rolled his grocery cart out of the market. The kid at the cash register went beserk. He started screaming at Ethan that "you have to pay before you leave". He then came running out of the market in hot pursuit of Ethan still screaming "you have to pay before you leave". I yelled out "hey", and the boys father finally yelled at his son.

Kids at that age imitate what they see around them. I don't know what this young boy has been exposed to but I hope he develops a calmer attitude.

Table Manners

It is important for grandparents to be role models for their grandchildren.

The proper way of eating spaghetti, is to place one end of the spaghetti in Grammy's mouth and the other end in Janelle's.

There is a huge pile of spaghetti on the floor that is composed of the middle parts of the spaghetti.

Who says you can't have fun with your meal??

The Art of Sharing

There exists an open invitation for friends to share with friends. The bonds of the friendship are so deep that it is assumed by all that whatever one has, they would willingly share with the other.

Buddy knows how much Janelle is waiting to share her cracker with him!!