Saturday, June 20, 2009

Grandchildren

I have three grandchildren, two of them live in the same city we do and a third one lives in San Francisco. The San Franciscan barely knows how to swim, while the other two are already well on their way to being good swimmers. Since they are already out of school for the summer, I thought I'll go ahead and have our grandchild from San Francisco spend a few weeks with us and have him enrolled at a swimming school. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately (not to my wallet though), the swimming classes within a convenient distance from our place were all filled up already, so we (my wife and I) decided to hire a private swimming instructor to teach him how to swim at our community pool.

The arrangement worked wonder for him. The one-on-one instruction was all he needed and within 8 consecutive sessions of 30 minutes duration, he was able to swim freestyle, backstroke and butterfly for six laps with a little rest in between!











At the end of the school year, my granddaughter earned a 4.0 gpa. She was also an elected member of their student council during the year. Her parents rewarded her for her accomplishments with a cell phone and my wife and I decided to take her out to dinner at a restaurant of her choice. We wanted to give a message to the two boys that they need to play less and attend to their school works more LOL.

We have been to this restaurant before but she and the boys always get a kick out of watching the cook perform his cooking wizardly in the process of preparing our food.






It is not uncommon in California to see a Mexican cook in a Japanese restaurant, but if you are after authentic Japanese cuisine, it is best to settle for a Japanese cook, preferably one trained in Japan LOL.


My other grandchild loves sport and he enjoys playing baseball, soccer, touch football and basketball. Sometimes I worry about him getting hurt because playmates of his age are bigger and taller than him. However, the supervising adults always emphasize sportsmanship, clean play and routinely downgrade the importance of winning as the ultimate goal in team competition.




When a player gets hurt, the game is temporarily stop and the players of both teams in the field sit or hunker down until the play resumes.




Winning and losing teams high five each other after the conclusion of the game.


The parents and fans traditionally welcome their players with a human triumphal arch, win or lose. This is so different during my time in Pinas. Most of the time, the team sport we participated in was only basketball - our uniforms were ragtag or shirt on and off to differentiate team members. The emphasis was on winning by whatever means and rough plays were not only condoned but encouraged. Maybe I am just talking about my experiences and what I observed during my time. I hope things have changed from "who won, to how the game was played and enjoyed by every participants."

14 comments:

BlogusVox said...

I'm looking forward to the day when I would just sit around enjoying my grandchildren too. But that's a very long time to come pa.

docgelo said...

My late grandmother had always told my parents, "mas mahal ang tubo kaysa sa puhunan" referring to her love to us, her grandchildren and comparing it with her affection to our parents.
I can't still relate but I fully understand and I think you'll agree too (based on how proud lolo you are, well you must be, your granchildren are growing up as well-rounded people, having preference to sports and teppan/teppanyaki table).

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

RJ said...

I'm just wondering why don't we have a Grandfather's Day?

Happy (Grand)Father's Day, BertN. U

Lantaw said...

looks like these are fun-filled days

Reena said...

when we were in grade school, our parents forced us to learn swimming from Milo Sports. we didn't like it then. but i'm now grateful. haha. it's not just a sport but a skill that could actually save lives!

anyway, your grandchildren look like they're enjoying their sports. yeah, puro basketball sa Pinas. i hope we hone other sports.

i so love japanese dishes!

Reena said...

oh btw...belated happy father's day!

and @RJ...we do have granndparents day. we celebrate them every year...

bertN said...

BlogusVox, you'll get to be a grandfather in due time but don't rush to get there. Enjoy your time now because this is the best phase of your life and it is not going to happen again.

docgelo, that's a coincidence because my grandparents say the same thing to my parents. But that's not how I feel - I have the same level of affection for my children and grandchildren.

My children complain constantly that I do not discipline their children the same way I disciplined them. I told them if I do, they'll not enjoy coming to our house anymore. Afterall, it's their role now, not mine LOL.

RJ, maybe they should have one, not because I am one now, but because I was very closed to my grandparents when I was growing up.

Lantaw, they are for me. Thanks for dropping by.

Reena, I wished I was forced to learn to swim when I was young, too. It's a skill the young ones need...an asset they'll learn to appreciate and benefit from the rest of their lives.

Thanks for the greeting.

Carol said...

Nice photos...I like the pool shots...so good that your grandson learned to swim...sounds like you're a wonderful grandparent...

bertN said...

Carol, thanks for dropping by.

bing said...

hi, bloghopping..

it warms the heart to read about grandparents who care a lot..

bertN said...

I think all grandparents do. Thanks for dropping by.

sheng said...

I love this post, makes me wonder how my life will be spent when i get to age, i just hope i age beautifully... i wish to retire with a mind set to just relaxing and admiring God's beautiful creations, and not sulking thinking about debts.

bertN said...

Don't worry about how you "age" - you'll always look beautiful to the ones who love you.

thess said...

Your grandkids are lucky to have such sweet grandparents!

now I'm missing my (rip) lolo and lola.