We just got our first grandson, Mathew (with only one “t”), back in June. His folks live in Las Vegas so we may not get to see him very often.
Or maybe not. We’ve already made two trips there and I’m getting to know I-15 really well.
In fact, I think Las Vegas is going to be a very familiar place for us in the coming years. I’ve never liked it, though. Too much glitz and lights and emphasis on partying. It’s just not my speed these days.
What I find very odd is that Las Vegas is really two cities. The first is the gambling/showgirl/drinking culture of the 20-something bachelor party looking for hedonistic satisfaction.
The other is a normal bedroom community with folks who serve this entertainment industry but go home to normal suburban life each day.
Get 10 minutes from the strip in any direction and you will see what I mean. Ordinary apartments and houses with Toyotas and Hondas in the driveways. Cookie-cutter strip malls featuring Ralphs, Del Taco and 7-Eleven are on nearly every corner.
Looks much like life here in the SCV. But I digress.
I am still getting used to the idea of a grandson. Here is this kid with whom we get to have tons of fun and then hand him back to his parents for changing, discipline, and usual parental headaches. I think this is going to work out very well!
My oldest son, Joshua, is Mat’s uncle and was not sure what to make of him the first time they met. Each eyed the other very warily.
But Josh plunged right in and clumsily held Mat for the first time. I can see the kid was growing on him. By the end of the evening, Josh was asking to hold Mat and, when given the opportunity, was holding him like an old pro.
I am trying to get back into the swing of this baby stuff. It’s been years since I thought about diapers, wipes and formula. But it’s surprising how quickly it comes back, and then you can be useful to the new parents.
We want to have a positive impact on Mat and help guide and mold him into the young man he will become. I realize that today’s generation will be much different than mine. Technology and politics will shape his future in ways we cannot imagine.
I don’t want my grandson to be hyper-sensitive and be blown around by tweets and texts. Like the young lady who went into a Hobby Lobby recently and saw blooming cotton stalks tastefully arranged in vases and declaring such an offering was “racist.”
Honestly. I can’t imagine how our society will survive if people can so easily extrapolate a cultural hurt back to an item they see in public.
What is next? Will I have to stop wearing my cotton shirts because they could possibly offend someone? Will we need to stop growing cotton, tobacco, corn, and other crops because they may have been harvested by slave labor long ago?
Just because a person has a Twitter or reddit account does not mean his or her opinion is valuable or worth considering. Tempests that arise over foolish ideas distract us from the real issues that plague our society.
I hope Mat and his contemporaries will learn how to do this and cope with this tyrannical media (Signal excepted, of course). And it’s up to grandparents to aid this younger generation in melding common sensibility into this new technology. We have a legacy to protect and a generation to nurture.
We are hoping to babysit the little bugger for an entire day soon. I told Trish that I want to take him to Chuck-e-Cheese, Farrell’s (in Mountasia), Toys-R-Us (if they stay open for business), and any other kid-friendly place. Trish just shakes her head and reminds me that he is only 3 months old.
Yeah, I’ll probably be one of those crazy grandpas that spoils the grandkids, goes to as many soccer games as possible, and makes himself a general nuisance.
But I am very much looking forward to it. If you have any suggestions for fun grandparent outings, please email me.
Steve Lunetta is a resident of Santa Clarita and is trying to figure out what this kid will call him. Gramps? Papa? Old Man? Steve can be reached at [email protected]
