There's an old Welsh Proverb that goes: Perfect love sometimes does not come till the first grandchild. The Welsh are on to something there. My readers who know me, know that my grandchildren are my pride and joy. If not, you will probably figure it out while reading my blogs. I've also been known to brag a little. I'm pretty sure that my first grandchild's other grandmother and I danced a jig and did a hip bump the moment my son-in-law came out of the delivery room with the news that he had arrived. If we didn't, we should have.
Since the above paragraph seems to have nothing in common with the title of this blog, I will weave it so that it does. I looked up definitions of the word "cool" in several on-line dictionaries. I've used the word since the '60's when it was cool to be "cool". It was embedded in our vocabulary and we used it excessively. It still carries the same meaning and it's hard to go anywhere the English language is spoken without hearing someone use the word “cool.” The "slang" dictionaries offered several definitions: okay; socially well adjusted; nonchalant; very good, excellent; and fashionable / hip. I think I'm safe in saying that a "cool" combination of these definitions describe my grandson. Let me explain why.
My daughter, Laura did homeschooling with Jake from third through eighth grade. This past Fall, he entered public school as a ninth grader - high school! Because of the excellent education he has received from my daughter and the social interactions he's been exposed to, he has adjusted both academically and socially without skipping a beat. He's in honors classes and has made excellent grades all year. He is active in his church youth group, has lots of hobbies and recently got his driver's permit which I don't want to think about. Those are pretty cool statistics, right? But I got to witness the coolest of "cool" last Thursday night.
A few years ago, Jake got interested in beekeeping. Jeff, a family friend sparked the interest. He lets Jake assist him with harvesting the honey and helping him maintain his hives. Jake then purchases the honey at wholesale from Jeff and sells it at a local farmer's market. He has saved quite a chunk of change from his "honey money". Laura incorporated this into one of his homeschooling activities - a Saturday project - something a public school teacher would never have time to do. He's learned a lot by assisting Jeff in presentations, developed social skills in dealing with the public, and learned to account for and manage money - the kind of skills that are useful in all walks of life. His knowledge of bees is fascinating.
About six weeks ago, I asked Jake if he would do a presentation for our Woman's Club - each month we have a guest speaker and it was my turn to round up one. He didn't hesitate and said yes he would - he seemed excited that I had asked him. He's fifteen - not many fifteen year old boys would be eager to speak in front of thirty women. He called me several times over the weeks while he was working on a PowerPoint presentation to ask me a few questions and I was glad that he was preparing so far ahead of time. His grandmother is a procrastinator - he is not. The program title was "The Amazing Honey Bee".
I knew that Jake would do well, but I was not prepared to be blown away. Jake got there early, set up his equipment, chatted politely with all the women who I'm sure were all wondering what a teenager was doing there. The meeting was called to order and I introduced him as our program guest. He introduced himself with all the poise and professionalism of a public speaker. He was cool, calm and collected and did an extremely knowledgeable, interesting, witty and amazing program. I know that's a lot of adjectives, but they're all true. He was constantly interrupted with questions and handled them beautifully - never getting flustered or off track. His PowerPoint presentation was awesome. Grandma was beaming and all the other ladies were charmed out of their socks.
My grandson - way too "cool" for words!
Since the above paragraph seems to have nothing in common with the title of this blog, I will weave it so that it does. I looked up definitions of the word "cool" in several on-line dictionaries. I've used the word since the '60's when it was cool to be "cool". It was embedded in our vocabulary and we used it excessively. It still carries the same meaning and it's hard to go anywhere the English language is spoken without hearing someone use the word “cool.” The "slang" dictionaries offered several definitions: okay; socially well adjusted; nonchalant; very good, excellent; and fashionable / hip. I think I'm safe in saying that a "cool" combination of these definitions describe my grandson. Let me explain why.
My daughter, Laura did homeschooling with Jake from third through eighth grade. This past Fall, he entered public school as a ninth grader - high school! Because of the excellent education he has received from my daughter and the social interactions he's been exposed to, he has adjusted both academically and socially without skipping a beat. He's in honors classes and has made excellent grades all year. He is active in his church youth group, has lots of hobbies and recently got his driver's permit which I don't want to think about. Those are pretty cool statistics, right? But I got to witness the coolest of "cool" last Thursday night.
A few years ago, Jake got interested in beekeeping. Jeff, a family friend sparked the interest. He lets Jake assist him with harvesting the honey and helping him maintain his hives. Jake then purchases the honey at wholesale from Jeff and sells it at a local farmer's market. He has saved quite a chunk of change from his "honey money". Laura incorporated this into one of his homeschooling activities - a Saturday project - something a public school teacher would never have time to do. He's learned a lot by assisting Jeff in presentations, developed social skills in dealing with the public, and learned to account for and manage money - the kind of skills that are useful in all walks of life. His knowledge of bees is fascinating.
About six weeks ago, I asked Jake if he would do a presentation for our Woman's Club - each month we have a guest speaker and it was my turn to round up one. He didn't hesitate and said yes he would - he seemed excited that I had asked him. He's fifteen - not many fifteen year old boys would be eager to speak in front of thirty women. He called me several times over the weeks while he was working on a PowerPoint presentation to ask me a few questions and I was glad that he was preparing so far ahead of time. His grandmother is a procrastinator - he is not. The program title was "The Amazing Honey Bee".
I knew that Jake would do well, but I was not prepared to be blown away. Jake got there early, set up his equipment, chatted politely with all the women who I'm sure were all wondering what a teenager was doing there. The meeting was called to order and I introduced him as our program guest. He introduced himself with all the poise and professionalism of a public speaker. He was cool, calm and collected and did an extremely knowledgeable, interesting, witty and amazing program. I know that's a lot of adjectives, but they're all true. He was constantly interrupted with questions and handled them beautifully - never getting flustered or off track. His PowerPoint presentation was awesome. Grandma was beaming and all the other ladies were charmed out of their socks.
My grandson - way too "cool" for words!
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