Good times with John

John Wesley Tunnell

   Last week I took advantage of my new "semi-retired" status to stay home and babysit my grandson John while Linda went to the nutcracker ballet with Beth and the girls. I suspect we both had a better time hanging out at home than he would have had at the ballet. I also think we helped everyone else enjoy the ballet more by staying home. I have always gotten along well with John even when he was a baby. Now that he is three he is really good company.  He has an incredible sense of humor for one so young and always puts a smile on my face. One of the things John and I have in common is we both like hats.  I was able to adjust this ball cap down to his size and he wore it for hours. He really enjoys being outside regardless of the weather and likes to help out. In the photo below John is enthusiastically herding my ducks back into their pen.

John herds the ducks past the bee hives.

   

John performs guard duty on the ducks while I change their water

    I only had to change John's diaper once, which I thought was pretty good for a 5 or 6 hour stint of babysitting.   Everything went really well except for my efforts to persuade John to take a nap.  I parked on the couch in front of the TV with Thomas the Tank Engine.  I figured just getting him to lie down and be still for any significant period of time would result in a nap.  As it turns out he has more stamina than I thought.  Several times I thought he had fallen asleep as I didn't see him move for a while.  It was always close but no cigar.

John and Grandpa enjoying a little Thomas the Tank Engine.

Ten minutes of semi-dozing was the closest John got to a nap.

   I cannot relate to grandparents who don't enjoy their grandchildren. Are they too wrapped up in their own lives? Possibly they are terminally self-centered and are too busy to be bothered. Maybe they did a poor job raising their kids, who in turn ended up as lousy parents and produced obnoxious grandchildren. Whatever the cause, I think they are missing out on one of life's sweetest pleasures.  I'm so grateful that all of my children turned out to be very good parents. They really make me proud.