Crumbs still clung to the harvest cloth between blotted Coke and orange juice. The fake decorations drooped a little when yawns gathered around to begin the traditional games.
The eight-year-old asked to play Scattergories. The adults groaned knowing the difficulty she would have, fearing her frustration. But she persisted, and the adults relented.
She took charge of the alphabet die and the timer, and real memories began.
The adults struggled to think of a world leader or politician whose name started with the letter “O.”
The adults came up blank.
The eight-year-old scribbled “Obama.”
The leader of our own country.
The adults struggled to think of a capital that started with the letter “L.”
They smugly wrote down “Lima, Peru” and “London, England.”
The eight-year-old scribbled “Lansing.”
The capital of our own state.
The adults struggled to think of gifts that started with the letter “K.”
They wrote down things like “kitten” and “Kindle.”
The eight-year-old scribbled “kindness.”
Sometimes we adults try too hard and think too long. We search through our memory crumbs and try to blot up what we’ve soaked in. We look too far for what is so near. We miss the obvious and most important.
We adults need the eyes and ears and heart of an eight-year-old.
Linking with On, In, and Around Mondays at Seedlings in Stone.
What a very smart girl! We need kids in our lives to keep the important things front and center. Great post, Sandra. Thanks.
Yes, she is. And funny, too!
We can seriously learn so much from out kids. Or I can at least, Ethan has a way of simplifying things.
Seriously learn. So true.
O = old. L = lady. K = who is Kind. It’s what I want to be when I grow up. Just wrote the first “childlike” thing that came to my mind. Trying to be childlike today… thanks for the reminder, Sandy!
Wait. Are you calling me a kind old lady? 😉
Not that I’m overly competitive or anything, but did the eight-year-old win the game? (I hope so.)
Well, no, she didn’t. I didn’t even write down my scores, and I can’t remember who actually won. I do remember a lot of laughter and a lot of hushes because the babies were sleeping. 😉
She has been known to skunk me on a 1-on-1 game of Uno.
Marvelous. When kids call us to play, we should answer. 🙂
Yep. Never know what we might learn.
This is lovely–and now I know you’re from Michigan! Thanks so much for your kind words today over at my place. Nice to meet you. Blessings.
Born and bred–though I’ve got a lot of places I’ve called second home. 🙂 Nice to meet you, too, Nancy.
A smart child with a wise Gramma … I enjoy my grandson so much.
Never dull. 🙂
It sounds like it was a fun day! And yes, I enjoy watching life through the eyes of a child. Oh to be that age again:)
I wish I could remember me at that age.
Love reading about your granddaughter. She sounds like a sweetie.
That she is!
Lovely. This is what children do. I wonder why it’s so easy to think they won’t? I don’t think I will ever learn so much so quickly as I did when I was a child. It’s admirable.
Maybe it’s because children don’t have so much stuff vying for their attention. Thanks so much for coming by, Karen.
Someday, I want to play scattegories against that 8 year old. I think I’d learn a thing or two. Love this story!
She’s our Amazing Grace. 🙂
Looking too far for what is so near…Thank you!
I’ve had this tab open to read, but schedules have been crazy! Glad I persisted. We dusted off the scattergories game this weekend when friends were here, and have played it with the (older) kids twice since then. But now I’m encouraged that we can tackle this with our 10 year old. They’ll return from their mom’s house on Sunday. I’ll get it ready. Why don’t y’all join us?
I would love that! I can’t wait to hear how the 10-year-old does. 🙂
Snady, you remind me of how happy I really am, amid the squabbles & tattling & tears, to be a mommy who still measures two of my children’s ages in the single digits.
My brain gets so filled with adult concerns. Last night you caught me wading through a fog, unable to process simple tasks like talking to a waitress. But your presence and stopping to take a photo and saying hello to my not-so-little little girl all brought me back to the place where the heart’s love overcame the mind’s fog. How much I needed it! (thank You Lord!)
How precious in life are the moments we exchange with the young.
Thank you for the gift of this post, to seal the gift of last night.
It was so much fun! I’m glad we live not so far apart and even closer in spirit. 🙂