Further Family Lessons
Still Another Book to Read To, or With, Your Kids and Grandkids
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I looked at her, then thought wistfully, "Rhea’s our youngest granddaughter; and she’s nearly out of the stage where I can pick her up and swing her around, like we often used to. This may be the last time we can ever play like this…"
“I’m not ‘grouchy’ or ‘angry’—but I do get frustrated at times… especially when I’m trying to do too many things at once!” Then I went and stood behind Nana, gave her a loving hug, and explained to Rhea, “And I could never be ‘angry’ with Nana! I love her too much…” and I gave her a kiss.
“Now, in movies such as Dracula, I think that vampires will sometimes sneak into someone’s house without being invited―or else, they might turn into a bat, and fly into someone’s upstairs window, without being invited. So I guess the answer to your question is, ‘Yes, they can come into someone’s house without being invited.’” But looking them both in the eyes, I added soberly, “But since vampires aren’t real, there’s nothing for anyone to worry about. A vampire like Nosferatu can’t come into your house, any more than an imaginary creature like a unicorn or a centaur can.”
He turned serious, and said, “Papa, one of my friends at school—the one who doesn’t believe in God—asked me, ‘Who created God?’ and I didn’t know what to say.”
I nodded, and said, “That’s a common objection. For those of us who explain the existence of the universe by saying that ‘God created it,’ it’s natural for some people to argue, ‘Well, then: how do you explain God? Who created him?’”
He said dejectedly, “And I don’t know what to say to him.”
I thought for a moment, and then replied, “The usual response to that objection is to say that ‘No one created God; God has always existed.’” He looked puzzled, so I continued, “There are two basic possibilities: either something has always existed—whether it be God, matter, or both—or else there was a time when there was absolutely nothing; and then suddenly everything came into existence, out of nothing.”
“The early astrologers believed that the stars were small lights, which were fairly close to the Earth; kind of like the lights on the tree, over there.” Joshua and Donovan looked over at the tree, then back at me.I went on, “But in reality, the stars aren’t close to the earth. The very closest star to us is Alpha Centauri, which is actually a trinary, or three-star system; it’s almost 6 trillion miles away from us. By comparison, that’s more than one thousand times the distance from the Sun to Pluto, which is the farthest planet..." Pointing to the inflatable globe again, I said, “So that stars aren’t anywhere near as close to the Earth as the Christmas tree is to this globe; they’re more like… oh, say, the distance from here to Disneyland—and I assume that you guys remember how far away Disneyland is from us, and how long it took to drive there?” They both nodded. I pointed to North America on the globe again, and said, “So is, say, the Haunted Mansion, or the Tower of Terror at Disneyland actually close enough to our Earth to have any kind of ‘influence’ on you? Much less control what kind of personality you have? Or who you should marry?”
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
It’s three years later, and the grandkids are growing… but so are the life challenges they face! Some of them are dealing with the additional issues created by attending junior high and high school. They’re playing football and basketball; participating in cheerleading competitions; building castles and dioramas for school projects; attending birthday parties and swim parties; making and revising their Christmas Lists; and generally keeping their parents and grandparents busy, with all of their activities and interests.
There are more and more things they need to learn how to do, such as multiplication and division; how to ride a skateboard, or a bike; how to bake cookies; how to swim without touching the bottom of the pool; how to play the guitar; how to compute the tip to leave at a restaurant; how to download games and apps to a new mobile device; and much more.
The questions they pose for Papa and Nana are getting more complex, too. Beginning with simpler questions like “Do whales eat people?”; “Can vampires come in the house if they’re not invited?”; and “Is that a boy fish, or a girl fish?” they progress to more complex inquiries, such as, “Can animals talk?”; “Do other planets have days, like we do?”; “Do you believe in global warming?”; “What’s it like to be an adult?”; “What do you think about the Big Bang?”; and “Do you believe in God?”
Whether they’re going to the Zoo; hosting a video game party; deciding which music video to watch first; visiting Papa at work; trying to cross a muddy path in the Nature Walk; reading a popular series of books; posting pictures on social media websites; dancing a Zumba workout; or making a Father’s Day card, the activities and mishaps recounted in this book may help you to better appreciate the joy, wonder, and beauty of young people—and reinforce your belief in the ultimate and indispensable value of FAMILY.
About the Author
Steve Propp graduated from CSU Sacramento and is the author of Family Lessons (2006), More Family Lessons (2011), A Multicultural Christmas (2005), Tattered Pilgrims (2001), and Work, Death, and Taxes (2000). Now retired, he lives in Sacramento, California, with his wife, Nancy, where he is devoted to his family and writing.