#188 Grandmotherly love - like oxygen

     Grandparents relate to grandchildren very differently than parents to children. Grandparents have had a lifetime of making mistakes to benefit from, including mistakes in raising their own children. Grandparents now have an opportunity to make up for some of those mistakes, and have more time to "do it right". So grandparents tend to be more attentive, patient, forgiving, and playful. They see the inconsequential nature of sporadic misbehaviors and focus their energies on lovingly cultivating, like a good gardener, the infinite potential for goodness and wisdom in the little child. They "see" deeply into the child and take the long view.
     All of us need nurturing "grandmotherly love" throughout our lives. So we all must learn to provide nurturing to each other AND to ourselves!

Theodore tugboat in Halifax harbor, Nova Scotia