#Aging: On Staying Young, Grandchildren and Travel Safety

There is the matter of little children...the ones that still cry when they fall and grab toys from each other...do they keep you young or make you very old elderly mature? I have always wondered.  As a young mother I would often want to curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep. Now I just stay alive and keep going...I love this time in my life.

I have been spending a lot of time with my 5 youngest grandchildren aged 1-9 since my son and his family came to their house here in Hillsboro from China for a visit. He has two children and my youngest son lives nearby and has three. Sometimes they came in small clumps...3 or 2 at a time. On three occasions within the last 6 week they have all spent time together at my house...at the same time.  It was a bit like a bee hive on those days. Their rule for grandma is there will be NO sitting...it is forbidden in their world. Boy do I get a workout.

I may need to buy some new play things in the near future. They have managed to look at what I have from every angle and in every corner of my house.

We live within walking distance of a local school so on the last day of their visit we made the trek in the morning before it was too hot. I am always a little uneasy when we do this sort of thing because I don't want to break the grandchildren. 

Climbing on the spider toy always what makes me afraid. Other grandmothers at the playground thought I was a Bad Grandma because I let the little blond guy climb to the top...as though there was any stopping him! He did fall a little on the bottom rung as he came down but there was no blood and only a few tears. In my world that is a successful play time.

Spider Toy

Big Dude fell a little but he proved he was tough!

A chair full of children...all ours for a day!

I used Photoshop to get out all the wrinkles...I am fine!

So the question is "Do they keep you young or do they kill you?" This is an either/or question. Trust me there is nothing in between.

When they go home!
The two girls flew back to China this morning. We are a traveling family to be sure. My husband and I drove my son, his wife, 2 grandchildren and 10 bags of stuff to the airport at 7:00 am. I takes two vehicles to get them there. They checked in on Foursquare and were delayed at hour because one runway at the airport in San Francisco is still closed after the recent accident. They will be home sometime tomorrow. It is a long way to China!

We are all paying more attention to the safety issues with airlines. So far we have eliminated Delta and Spirit as airlines we will use because of frightening personal experiences. I just thought you would want to know. 

What airlines do you prefer to use? I am making a list!

b+

p.s. I am writing on the fly...please overlook any glaring errors!