Discussions with the Grandkids

Had a short discussion with Teiya and Xander about what a week is. First, however, as a lead in....Xander says my mom was gone a long long time to Vegas...Teiya said, "about a week?" He said, Yes. I asked him if he missed his mom....he said, yes, then quickly no...I asked if she called every night...he said yes....Then Teiya says, is a week 7 days? I said yes. We then named the days of the week....and counted them...Everyone was satisfied....

Had a longish discussion with Venice about cremation. We passed a cemetery (because I took a wrong turn)....the one at the top of the University, very old....Venice, said..."oh, there's a graveyard." I said yes. She then said, "I wonder if Satie's grandmother is buried there." I said I didn't think so as this was a very old graveyard and I thot that Satie's grandmother was buried somewhere else. Somehow she asked a question...I don't remember what....and the topic of cremation came up. I told she and Casey what cremation was...Just so you know all thru this conversation, Venice was very matter of fact and interested.....So then I said that sometimes people choose cremation because it doesn't use up land....and also, after a person is cremated the ashes can be scattered. I said sometimes people scatter them in the ocean and they know the person they love is always there...or they put the ashes on plants in their yard and the person is with them thru the plants. Venice was getting happier and happier...she loved these ideas!....then I said some people put the ashes in a vase with a lid...called and urn....and sometimes ashes are shared. So some go to different members of the family. She nearly flipped out with joy....she said can I have some of your ashes and Jiichan's....I said probably...then she said, "I will be a collector of ashes" I will get as many as I can....then when I die I will have my ashes mixed in and then give that to my children in my will. They will go on and on forever........ So then I asked Casey what he thot about all of this...was it good or bad...he basically said he didn't know...he spoke kind of tentatively...but wasn't sure what he thot........

then it was on to other topics...

Granny

Conversations on Marriage

Venice asked me how old I was when I got married. (21)...She then announced that she was going to get married young - I asked how old...she said 17. I asked who she was going to marry...Elias. I told her she would turn 18 just before she graduated from High School...did she think she should graduate before marrying? She asked whether it was allowed. I told her different states have different rules...we googled it. In Oregon, you must be 18....However, if the parents agree, they can sign for you when you are 17....She is thinking about it.....

In the middle of this Xander chimed in....he wants to get married. Age wasn't a concern. I asked who he would marry...he said Diana....so we gently informed him that Diana was already married...he sucked it up....said he would marry Casey. Venice told him he couldn't....but the conversation diverged at that point and we never got back to Xander's choice. I did asked him where he planned to live after getting married, he said 3033 Blacktail Drive. I said your parents might think you should live in your own home. Venice asked, Is it allowed? I said he could live with his parents if they agreed. But they might think he should get a job and support himself...

I told Venice at the end, that most people think they should wait a little longer before they get married. That 18 looks really old to her now, but when she is 18, she might not think it is old. I asked her if she was going to work....she said no..I asked her what Elias would do...be an architect...So then she told me Mom's don't work. I said that I had worked, Tori had worked, and her mom had worked...she said with great surprise...Mom worked?......then she decided that you work now...you do mom's work.

Wonderful conversation.

-Granny

No More Pink

I've noticed that Venice is growing up. She no longer wants the frilly girly pink stuff. When I looked back at her in the car, she was wearing her new sunglasses that are from the "adult" section and are all black. There were some "bling" on them, but they were definitely older. Sigh.

Too Old?

During a discussion with Venice, I was not understanding what she was saying. As time went along, she was getting more frustrated and finally said in an exasperated voice, "Your too old to understand."