Taking Your Kids’ Kids – Part Four

The annual Cousin’s Camp put on by my parents is a win for all involved. It helps renew marriages. It deepens layers of love. It models biblical marriage. But in case you still aren’t convinced that taking your kids’ kids is a big deal, let me suggest a fourth reason. . .

Taking Your Kids’ Kids Keeps You Young.

There is very little I like more than a good belly laugh. Know what I mean? When something hits you the right way and before you know it you are laughing so hard your cheeks hurt (the ones on your face) and your eyes start leaking. It’s one of those things that “hurts so good.”

Along those lines, I love hearing my dad laugh. There’s nothing like Steve Pearson’s laugh. Know what I heard a lot of last week during Cousin’s Camp? My dad laugh. No. I wasn’t there. I heard it through some of mom’s posts, a call or two on the phone, and on Saturday when we all had lunch together – where they shared the week’s funnies with their grandchildren’s parents. If you want an idea of what I mean, go and befriend my mom on Facebook. She won’t mind. I promise. She’s shy but she likes the attention (grin and wink). You can get an idea of the fun they had by scrolling through last week’s “stuff.” (Listen for my dad’s outbursts of laughter. . . guaranteed to make you smile.)

Here’s another thing. Saturday (Fourth of July) when we all (mom, dad, siblings and spouses, and all the grandchildren) shared a meal together – my parents didn’t want us to go. They wanted us to stay as long as possible. There were 21 people in their house, 13 of which were 15 years old or younger (14 if you count the baby in Julie’s womb). I would have assumed the opposite. I would have assumed they would have met us at the door with our kids, given us a brown paper bag with leftover sandwiches and chips, all our kids nasty clothes from the week in a black garbage sack, and said “it’s been great – BYE.” But they didn’t. They wanted us to stay.

It’s as if last week gave them energy.

Now. To be sure – they were exhausted. Mom and dad were sure ’nuff tired. But not the kind of tired that says, “we ain’t NEVER doing that again!” It was the kind of tired that floods your soul with energy. A fulfilling tired. It was as if Cousin’s Camp gave them life.

Belly laughs and fulfilling energy. That’s what I saw from my parents after investing in what seemed like 5,384 kids for 6 days. Know something else? They now know what a TikTok is. They know how to use social media. They know the “cool” phrases. They know how much groceries for teenagers cost in the year 2020.

In short, why should meemaw and peepaw keep their kids’ kids? To keep ’em young. Feeling old? Bored? Need a good ole belly laugh? Need help in how to use your phone or tablet or laptop computer? Take your kids’ kids for a while. Before you know it, your cheeks will be hurting.

Tomorrow? I answer your “buts” and “what abouts.”