The Learning Curve

     As parents, when our children are little, we witness all the things they begin to learn from day one.  We take great delight in first words, first steps and teaching them how to learn these things. As they get a little older, we send them to school for more learning.  We expect them to learn all the things that we did, well maybe there are a few things we would like for them not to learn, but we expect the fundamentals.

     As a grandparent I've come to realize something I missed when my own children were in that learning stage of their life.  The newness of it.  When they have been in school for a while, the delight we took when they learned something new as a small child is sometimes lost.   As a parent when the kids come home and tell you something like "Did you know the earth revolves around the sun?!"  We usually answered with "Sure, I knew that." 

     Now that I'm older, I take great delight in hearing something my grandchildren tell me that, to them, is brand new news.  Answering them with "Are you kidding me?!?" gives them an opportunity to pass on their new found wisdom with an air of authority.

     Somewhere along their timeline of learning though, they begin to discover that parents really don't know a whole lot.   When this happens the grandparent, or anyone they deem to be old (aka ancient), seems to become the much smarter person.  They tend to think since we have been around since the beginning of time, we should know more.  I learned this truth from a young boy as we were having a discussion about are very old oak tree.  I told him since the tree was so large it was probably old enough to have been growing when the Indians still lived on the land.  He thought about that for a moment and said, "I'll ask Grandma  if she remembers."

     I discovered I had passed into this ancient realm of wisdom and  knowledge when my grandson asked me the question most parents are never ready for, "Where do babies come from?"   I hesitated for just a second before I answered him and said, "I tell you what, you ask your Mom and Dad.  If they won't tell you, then ask them if I can tell you."    He looked at me with complete disbelief and said, "Geez Grandma, they wouldn't know!"

    There is a verse that says 'there is nothing new under the sun'.  Maybe not, maybe it's always been there from the very beginning,   just waiting to be learned.  Some learning curves are just starting, some are in the arc and some on the down hill slope, but there is so much more out there to learn.  Take the time to learn something new, but better yet, take delight in the newness of it.