I have shared a lot on this page with you all. Things about my life, my family, my work, my writing, and my retirement. But, today, I want to offer something else. I am a proud grandfather. I have two grandchildren, a granddaughter and a grandson. I have always said that I learn the most from the students I have taught through the years. Then, I suddenly realized The Other Day… that my grandson had been teaching me something for several years, and I just now realized how important it was and is.
Years ago, my grandson didn’t communicate as well as we would have liked. He was stand-offish, and we didn’t know what to do about that. Time went on, and the more he came down (we live in the same building but in the basement) to visit his grandmother and me, the more he wanted to come down and visit again and again. It had gotten to the point that even if we were gone, he wanted to come downstairs anyway. Being adults, all of us wanted him to speak, but he just wasn’t ready to. Every day when he would visit, he would give us a hug and kiss and then go upstairs to the sounds of “We love you.” He would try to repeat the words back to us, but he couldn’t.
What did we do? Well, we still said the words, but we also started blowing kisses. After a while, we would be slinging these big, loud kisses and saying, “MUH” at the end. So, even now, he hugs and kisses us good night, and while he is going up the stairs, his grandmother or I would say, “MUH!” Even though he was at the top of the stairs, he would “MUH” us back. Cool, Huh? So, truthfully, a couple of weeks ago, as his father (my son) went up the stairs, I MUHed him. Then, I MUHed my grandson’s mother and sister.
I got to thinking (I know, here we go with the deep thinking, again, right?), what is my grandson and I actually saying to one another when we say our “MUH’s”? I believe we are telling one another that we love each other. So why can’t we tell everyone we know how much we love them with this simple saying or gesture? When Brayden says “MUH”, he’s always making the motion of throwing or blowing a kiss. So, yes, my grandson taught me a new slang word, “MUH”. I’m sorry I ever thought my grandchild wasn’t a great communicator, because I think I just proved he does a pretty good job of it!
Isn’t that how some things work? One person, albeit a six-year-old, comes up with something and uses it in public, and then more and more people do it, until it catches on. To tell the truth, even if it doesn’t, I will still continue to show my loving family how much I appreciate them by “MUHing” them. I’m going to start “MUHing” you all as well, every chance I get. So, on behalf of my grandson and me, and the rest of my family, until next time, “MUH”!!
