Ratcheting Up The Rhythm Rate

You don’t realize how much slower the pace of life is after you retire until you get an opportunity to “kick it up a notch” with grandkids.

We’re enjoying a few wonderful days with our granddaughters while their mom and dad are taking in a pastor’s conference in the sunny and temperate San Diego area. I’m pretty sure they’re having a great time, but we’re immersed in some happy experiences as well.

What becomes apparent when you get to spend around-the-clock time with kids is how much faster their pace of living is. Even our dog Buddy is sleeping more deeply at night, as he’s interrelating with three kids, a cat and a dog that are not normally part of his routine. But his tail wags constantly, and that means he loves every minute of it.

Whenever we’re privileged to do this, memories come rushing back regarding the sometimes hectic, but cherished, schedules we thought we kept when raising our own two sons in the 70’s and 80’s. I think I have to admit, however, that today’s pace is not only faster, but also there seem to be more things on the schedule than when we were parenting.

Of course for us, it means we’ve had to ratchet up the rhythm rate of living for a short time. But we're discovering that there are therapeutic benefits. The effect is like when your endorphins kick in after exercising your body. You just plain feel good.

So far, we’ve learned about the rigors of preparing for a middle school track season; we’ve had to regurgitate how a fourth grader should distinguish the difference between a rhombus and a rhomboid and what’s parallel and what’s not; and we’ve watched “Dragon Tales” on TV and read stories by the dozens to our pre-schooler.

Enjoying family is truly one of the greatest blessings of life that God contemplated when he designed his creation of humankind. And the most incredible aspect of it all is that in later life you almost feel it more deeply. The result is that you truly get back much more than it seems you ever could have put into it.