My Head is Full of Children

Quincy, my youngest grandson, accompanied me in my tour of the garden today. Having been away for a couple of days, I wanted to see how everything was doing. We looked at all the butterflies among the flowers and I named the ones I knew- the yellow sulphers, the pipevine swallowtails, the longwing zebras and the gulf fritillaries. Quincy, at two, is not much of a talker yet, but he could name those butterflies. We moved on to the figs, now covered with fruit. I picked six ripe figs, pouching up my tee shirt to hold them. I was imagining a dessert of those delicious figs topped with cream and a tiny bit of honey. Quincy wanted to try one so I split one in half and gave it to him. He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. "More fig" he said. So the two of us pigged out on those figs in the steamy Florida afternoon, our mouths dripping with the not so sweet but incredibly delicious flavor and texture.

When kids are here I have to put aside any thought of doing the responsible things I do as an adult. True, there are times I don't want to spark kids' activities, do pool duty, or put away the detritus. But still, as a grandma-aged person, those children energize me. The kids from Lacoochee, the old graduates from SunFlower School, my grandchildren , and the children of friends are always interesting to me, always welcome visitors. There is so much wonderful experience to be had here, and I am glad to share it. It goes both ways.

Quincy was here without his parents. He is comfortable with us and recognizes that we do a few things differently from his parents. No problem. And this is how it is meant to be. The other grandchildren and kids who come to visit us are the same, whatever age. We respect the various lives these children usually lead but we try to give them another view, just to taste.

I have such distinct memories of visiting people who had a totally different lifestyle from my parents'. Along the way, those were pieces I remember and integrated into being the person I am now. We will never know what effect we have on kids. I do know that having children in our heads and lives is the most important thing one can do.



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