Being An Advocate for Grandkids
I just finished spending three weeks with my Portland grandchildren. They spent one week with us in AZ and then I flew back with them to Portland for another two weeks. Anyone who knows me knows I am an obnoxious grandparent and love being around all my grandchildren.
When in Portland, I am the first sub off the bench. If my daughter and her husband are busy, I step in. I can make food, play games, pick them up from school and whatever else they need. Mostly, I just simply enjoy hanging out with them.
I spend a lot of time thinking [worrying] about their future. I suspect most grandparents worry about their grandchildren’s future. But worrying is not good enough, we must also be grandchildren’s advocate. Politically, socially, every decision we make should not be about us, it should be about them. That means we as grandparents should be thinking 10, 20, 30+ years and more into the future.
Some grandparents think that there is no such thing as climate change. They are wrong. There is and its not going away. There is lots of different examples; shrinking glaciers, rising tides, increased frequency and intensity of weather events to name a few. But the primary consequence is the increasing frequency and costs of natural disasters. As a grandparent you have to make a choice, either you accept the science behind climate change and the effects it is having today and the increased effect it will have tomorrow. Or you can deny it. If you deny, don’t tell me, write a letter to your grandchildren and date it 20 years from now telling them there is no climate change. I guarantee you they will have zero respect for you and your intelligence in 20 years. If you accept the science behind climate change, your only choice going forward is to support political candidates on the local, state and federal levels who support programs to mitigate the effects of climate change.
[Note: Its too late to stop climate change, but we can still reduce its effects.]
One of my granddaughters told her school nurse last year, “my body, my rules”. She was six. We have been and continue to be sexist country. My mother, who was a widow with six kids in her 40s was told she could not buy a house or be the head of household, both because she was a woman. It was getting better for women, but the last few years we have regressed. For all your grandchildren, but especially your granddaughters, there is a line in the sand, they are either totally equal or they are not. And for them to be equal, they have to be completely and solely responsible for their personal health care. And do not give me the bible stuff. Jesus never said a word about abortion. In fact is clear from both Jesus’s teachings and Genesis for that matter, men and women are equal and should be treated equally. Again, if you think granddaughters are equal to grandsons, then you can only support politicians at all levels that agree with you.
A recent study found that about 17% of youth identify as LGBTQ. That means if there are 100 grandchildren in a room, 17 will be LGBTQ. I believe we are all equal and loved equally. Jesus said “love your neighbor”. Either you do or you do not. All LGBTQ are your neighbors. You cannot be a follower of Jesus’s teachings and anti-LGBTQ. You have to pick one. Jesus was very clear.
If your grandchild tells a lie, in a loving manner, you correct them. If you thinking lying is bad, then you need you to be honest with yourself about political lying. There is a difference between political spin and out right lies. Trump lies. He lost the 2020 election, January 6th was an insurrection led by him, Russia invaded Ukraine, climate change is real, and immigrants were not eating dogs and cats in Springfield, OH. That’s just a few. If your party affiliation requires you to lie to support a liar, you need to take a good look at your political party. Democracy and freedom are in part dependent on truth and justice. If you want your grandchildren to live in a free democracy, then you cannot accept lying from your leaders. If you tell your grandchildren to not lie and then accept lies in your political life, sooner or later they will learn about your hypocrisy.
There is nothing more important in my life than my grandchildren. Obviously I spend a little time thinking about my future, but let’s be honest, no matter how one looks at it, I am in the last part of my life. On the other hand my grandchildren are at their beginning. If I am not thinking about them and what their world will be like over the next 80-100 years, I am a failure as a grandparent. I would suggest the same is true for all grandparents.
In addition to the above, our grandchildren are facing challenges we as grandparents never did. Gun violence especially in schools, an assault on public lands, a dysfunctional health care system, the impact AI/Automation on future jobs to name a few. Its our responsibility to consider every short and long-term issue facing our grandchildren and vote in their best interests.