Wednesday March 18, 2009...Nine year olds?

It's been a long time, a really long, long time, since I had small children around me much. My children were small about 35-40 years ago and have since grown up to be understanding, caring, loving, reasoning, logical adults.

Now I have my nine year old grandson living with me and I find that I need to adjust my thinking.

For one thing, you can't always rely on logic when attempting to communicate with a young man. You can't always count on being able to reason and understand their way of thinking. It seems to be more of a faith kind of thing. What makes perfect sense to a nine year old may not make any sense to a full fledged adult, but then they live in a completely different world. A nine year old isn't bound by complete knowledge and understanding of how the world is made up. His world may have a bit more magic and a bit more wonder in it.

Another thing is that nine year olds care deeply about immediate points of interest that fluctuate wildly by the moment. What may hold true now won't always hold true later. What is of primary interest or concern now won't necessarily be of any interest tomorrow. You have to be very flexible.

Nine year olds have uneven temperament. Their emotions vary like the flames of a fire. One moment they hold you in the highest regard and love you immensely, but the very next day you may be the object of disdain and ridicule. They need a emotional dial or a sensor that tells you where their thoughts and emotions are at the moment.

It's been a learning experience. Once I get older and wiser, I'm sure that I will come to completely understand the mind of a nine year old boy. Or maybe not. It may be a Mom thing, because his mother has no problem whatsoever completely understanding and dealing with him. I seem to be more like a third foot, not knowing when or where to step.

I love my grandson and can't wait till he grows up to be an understanding, caring, loving, reasoning, logical adult. For now, he's a wonderment.