A Red Oak Tree for my grandson.............

[Kelley (Texas)]

My Grandson, Brayden came over for a visit yesterday and he is excited about a Red Oak Tree that I am growing from an acorn. This is going to be "His" tree and will be planted in his back yard when it gets to be two to three feet tall. I also have five more acorns planted in containers, but they have not sprouted yet. Brayden appears to be interested in growing things. We have a potato with lots of eyes in a large drinking glass setting on a window sill at his home, but it has not started growing yet.

In the next few weeks, we are going to build a bird house together and I am going to let him do all the painting of it. We have also talked about getting some tadpoles when the frogs start laying eggs. Two of the kids in our neighborhood found out about the tadpoles and they want to go with us when we decide to go get them. It is refreshing to see that boys still like to do these things! Kelley (Texas)

[attachment 190029 RedOakone.jpg]

 

[mudpuppy]

When it was Granddads like you that taught us how to be Men...the right kind of man that appreciates our role on this planet, the seasons of life, the mysterys of women, the amazing stories of days gone by, how to tie knots, shoot guns, fix things, fight for whats right...used to be it was a form of apprenticeship if you will..an education in things that are needed and matter. For some reason, kids seem to learn or digest it more when it comes from a Grandparent...good for you..peace!,

 

[Micheal_R]

n/t

 

[Nimrod]

n/t

 

[Cupajo]

Fred,

That is the very best life has to offer!!

Our job as Grandpas is to stir young imaginations and direct these young minds into creative channels.

Well done Gramp,

CJ

 

[Wayne in BC]

pictures of different Acorns you posted a while back? The large ones were Red Oak IRC.
The Tadpole adventure will be fun for the kids and don't forget to put a cat ladder up to the birdhouse so the kids can have some entertainment and learn about the natural world. Don't let their moms know though, wimmen don't quite understand that

 

[George-CT]

n/t

 

[Sunny]

don't have to be a boy to enjoy these things! I was quite the tomboy when I grew up with the brothers, and my daddy did the same thing for me that you are doing for Brayden!

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

four years old and will be five in May. He loves the outdoors and likes coming over here because there are half a dozen neighbor kids to play with. These kids are over here most of the time anyway and he fits right in with them even though he is the youngest of the group. He is very good at soccer, already throwing a baseball size ball, but has trouble with a football because his hands are just too small. The football these kids play with is about half size, but his hands are still too small at this time. He love animals, especially our dog Sadie which is his buddy. I have caught him and the other kids using a few curse words on occasion, but they know that those words cannot be used around here until they are eighteen years old.

Many of these parents do not spend time with their children, and that is one reason they come down to our house so often. Once they see me sitting on the tail gate of the pickup, here they come. When Brayden arrives, those kids are down here within minutes. They like to be told ghost stories, cowboy stories, and especially love to be shown how to do things. I gave them a pup tent to play with and we keep it in the garage, and they come get it when they want to play with it. I enjoy the kids, sorta view them as being little people that like to have fun. Brayden is always my highlight when I see them turn that corner heading for our home.

Brayden is extremely smart, probably because Heather is a teacher, and his other grandmother also teaches. It amazes me how smart these children are now days, not dumb like many folks think they are. I laugh because Brayden already knows how to make Heather and Debbie yell. It is funny to watch him do something that he knows will get a reaction out of them. He is just a good little boy, one that I love dearly. He is all boy and not a sissy, he will not back down from the other boys and will hold his ground if he thinks he is right about some issue or the other. Thank goodness, we seldom have a problem with these kids around here, they get along just fine most of the time.

Sunny, please check in more often, we miss you! Kelley (Texas)

 

[ojm bc]

as a kid was always fascinated by nature and the little critters, I'm sure that little acorn will grow into a great Oak tree.. I just managed to grow a persimmon seed into a small plant, they are few and far apart in BC, though fig tree's do go in Vancouver.. we get tons of them each summer.
We have one species of fig tree's, though we had to cut it down a lot, the fig on this plant are as big as a small apple.

 

[Royal]

we would want to go catch frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders, we just went and did it. Many of us lived in rural settings and could just hop on our bike and be off to the swamp.

Now days the swamps and bogs where we would search and learn so much are miles away in many cases and some are even off limits to such activity. Kids now days in many places do not have the freedom to just be kids and learn by observation but are forced into groups with some self-important adult (Teacher) hovering over them. It is good you are taking the boys out so they can learn on their own. They can learn what they want to know by asking questions- with no test afterwards. They can learn that a Gardner snake or what ever harmless snakes you have around there and crawfish can bite or pinch, not by you telling them the second time but by getting bitten and pinched. That is the way I learned.

So much to learn from nature. I am amazed every time I go for a hike and am sure still learning to this day

 

[ojm bc]

Now where I live, the city is putting those museam type signs around parks rivers, I find that annoying, walking into parks, where a sign is displayed telling us of it, it's nice I guess to know about the park, but it just degrades the park in my view. We go to nature sites for nature not to read display signs... which eventually get broken by vandals anyway.

Now seems kids preffer computers to nature, don't think that is all too healthy. Can you imagine visiting Mike, and finding display signs all around, I'm sure that's why people move away from the sterile city.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

not taken the time to teach the kids about wildlife and the outdoors. The computer is the baby sitter for the modern kid, and a means for the parents to not having to spend time with the child. The family is hostage to material possessions and fail to bond like they did when we were children. A trip to the shopping mall is more important than a trip to the creek to find some tadpoles. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Royal]

My dad died when I was 12, he as not around much anyway and mom always worked. We sorta raised ourselves and the fields and marshes were in our back yards. We learned about life there, lord knows I didn't learn much in school.

Many of those days are my best memories, after all these years. Feeding the baby meadowlarks in the nests, hunting frogs and such. I will never forget them but I doubt many kids really do that any more. It is a shame.

Another BIG difference is now days the kids will wait for the adult to entertain them and we didn't wait. We learned to entertain ourselves and it still serves me well..