Up the Family tree

 

 

 

 

 

Nana’s Challenge

                                  By Judy

In August I asked my four-year-old granddaughter if she was ready for school. Her family had relocated, and she was attending a new preschool.

“Don’t say that, I don’t want to talk about it,” she answered.

“Oh, you will have lots of fun. You’ll meet new friends,” I said.

“I don’t want new friends. They are mean. Why do I have to go?” she questioned.

“You don’t know anyone in your class yet, so you don’t know they are mean. You have to go to school so you can learn to read and do math,” I answered in a convincing tone.

“My mom can teach me to read, and I don’t like to hear you talk like that,” she said.

It was at this point I gave up. After all, I have argued with four-year-olds before. I am now a grandmother, and I know they can outlast me and sometimes even out reason me. As a young mother, though, I knew I had to live with them as teenagers. I knew it was important I convince them I was the authority figure early.

As Nana, though, I knew I would not have to live with her during the long teen years. I would not have to discuss clothing styles with her. I would not have to listen to reasons her curfew should be extended. As Nana I had the privilege of not winning the going-to-school argument. I got to be the good guy. I also knew her parents had her backpack ready by the door. Oh yes, she was going to school.

The school year is now several months along, and I recently had the opportunity to take the same granddaughter to preschool for a week while her parents were out-of-town. Her mother had told me while not overly anxious to go, the child was going to school without any…I believe the term now used is “meltdowns.” (My children had good, old-fashioned temper tantrums.) Would she do the same for me or would she remember our conversation from the beginning of the school year and attempt to convince me she didn’t need to go to preschool?

“No, I’m not going. You’re not the boss of me,” my young granddaughter stated early Monday morning.

Well, I wasn’t born yesterday, or even within the last fifty years, and with Mom and Dad out of town, I was the boss. I’m happy to report, too, that my little four-year-old granddaughter went to school every day without a peep. I simply explained to her the importance of having fresh breath if she wanted to make friends. Sure, some might consider giving her a couple of candy breath mints before school bribery, but not me.

After all, good grand-parenting is good grand-parenting.