I asked him, “How do you cope with staying connected with your kids, and keeping a good relationship with them?”

He answered, “Tim, I let them know in a hundred ways I’d rather be with them than at work. I call them, Skype them, send them little notes ... and when I am with them, I let nothing rob me of that time – the cell phone goes off, but they get my full attention.”

I recently came across a cool, but very thought-provoking description of a grandmother, written by a nine-year-old girl that I think highlights this beautifully.

She said “Grandmothers don’t have to do anything except be there. If they take us for walks, they slow down for things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They never say ‘hurry up’. Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. And they can take their teeth and gums out.

“And Grandmothers don’t have to be clever ... just clever enough to be able to answer questions like why isn’t God married or why do dogs chase cats?

“Grandmothers don’t talk baby talk to us like other grown-ups, because they know how hard it is for us to understand it. When they read to us, they don’t skip pages or mind if it’s the same story over and over again.”

The little girl finished with this — “I think that everybody should have a grandmother, because they’re really the only grown-ups who have time for you.”

By Tim Sisarich, Executive Director

of Focus on the Family, Copyright

© 2009 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.