Good friends and being a grandparent

One Sunday, we met up with our friends Marife and Junior. It's ironic that each couple has travelled halfway around the world to meet for supper together, when we live within a half hour drive of each other. However, Marife and Junior were wrapping up a cruise with a post-cruise tour. Life is too short not to take advantage of the opportunity to meet them on their last night in Sydney before returning home. Supper was at a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant in the Surrey Hills area. We shared good food and good company. What else could we ask for?

It has been said that a grandparent has all the joys of being a parent, and none of the responsibilities. Since the weekend, we have been enjoying our roles as grandparents, and seeing the world through the eyes of a 20-month old little boy. Our daughter and son-in-law will be moving on Friday to a new place in a different suburb of Sydney. In between helping with packing, and making trips to the new place, we've entertained our grandson.

It's easy in this hustle-and-bustle world to forget the simple pleasures in life - for example, making a tower out of building blocks with our grandson, Lex, and then watching him knock it down. Once demolished, he takes great delight in building it up again, standing on tippy toes to put blocks on a ever-higher wobbly tower. If we offer to help, he often responds 'No', preferring to do it himself. Occasionally, when Lex thinks we've been good, he'll say 'Yeah'. When it's all done, or all the blocks are used up, a good swipe knocks the whole thing apart to shrieks of laughter. Then the excitement of building another tower starts anew.

Other pleasures await us in the nearby park. Lex loves to play. He gets excited when he's told he's going to the park with Grandpa and Nana. To get to the park, it is a short walk along the beach boardwalk. Getting there is part of the fun, as Lex likes to watch what is happening on the beach. Once at the part, he usually makes a bee-line for the swings. With Walter or I pushing him, his commands of 'More' are happily met, as he goes higher and higher.

The slide is another popular entertainment for him. I think Lex enjoys the climb up the slide (not the ladder or the stairs) more than the actual slide down. Once he reaches the bottom of the slide, he climbs up again, often with some slipping, and perseveres until he reaches the top. An offer of help is declined with a determined 'No', which reduces us to the sidelines and grandparently vigilence lest he gets himself in trouble. Once at the top, Lex turns around, sits himself down, and then slides to the bottom. The whole process is repeated again until Lex sees something else that captures his fancy. Play in the park can last an hour or more, and then a happy and tired little toddler returns home to a meal and a nap.

'Yeah' appears to be commonly used, so it's no surprise that Lex favourite words are yeah, no, more, along with ball and apple. Various English-speaking countries use the language in different ways, often with unexpected results. For example, in Canada, we often see 'post no bills' on the walls around a construction site. Here, it is 'bill posters will be prosecuted' - which begs the question: Who is Bill Posters and why will he be prosecuted? Another sign was 'Save Bill Posters'. Another example, which I've posted here, "we will take care of your baby" is from a property management company, although it could be misread as a baby management company.