My Granddaughter, and World Events
As a grandmother, I have more time to approach the climate crisis and other world problems with my granddaughter than her parents do. She is seven years old and very curious. She wants to figure things out.
We have had lots of time outside to enjoy the natural surroundings. From a very young age, about two, she would spontaneously hug the trees and say, “I love the trees, Grammy!” It just came naturally to her. My struggle has been to not give her too much information, make her panic, or fill her with guilt about the climate and other crises.
We have had lots of “fights” about her use of water. As she’s gotten older and more independent, she has enjoyed taking long warm showers. Seeing her stay in the shower so long has been painful for me.
The last time I was with her while she was bathing, she said, “You won’t tell me when to stop having my shower today.” I assumed that she was telling me to behave myself. However, the truth was she was turning the water off while she soaped and was very proud of herself. “See! I told you, Grammy!”
At a day camp she went to last summer, she didn’t allow the other children (she can be a bit of a dictator!) to use the faucet to wash their hands. She arranged for each to have a bucket to wash in and one to rinse in. I’m not sure it actually saved water, but she took action and got everyone thinking. (We’re working on the bossy part.)
She often asks why people have wars. I speak about greed and tell her that some people think that they never have enough. The last time I asked her what she thought we should do to end wars, she’d immediately responded, “Stop making weapons!” then added, “But then you will tell me they will war with sticks and stones. That would be a shame for the trees.” (She knows that some of my friends and I are actively working to end war.) We agreed that not making weapons was a good start. Neither of us knows what to do beyond that, but we have agreed to keep thinking.
She has seen pictures of slums with extremely poor conditions. She asks why people live like that. I tell her it is because some people in the world think they deserve more than others and that we don’t share things equally. Her first reaction was to “accuse” and suggest that the slum dwellers should be like us—that then they would have what we have. She said it with a sweeping gesture that indicated “all of this.”
The last time she saw similar pictures, her response was deeply felt: “We have a lot of things, Grammy!” She’s thinking. Changes are coming. They are slow, but they happen and she influences a lot of her parents’ decisions. She also affects other children who might not have a Grammy like me who weighs the issues and gets her involved—hopefully in a way that empowers her and doesn’t overwhelm her.
Our last discussion was about toilet paper and the water that’s used in the toilet. She was immediately inspired and enthusiastic about going outside and starting to build a dry toilet. Unfortunately my skills stopped there, and I wasn’t able to even think of getting that project started. However, we had a lot of laughs. I know that she won’t forget and will figure out more about this in the future.
English is a language she is learning by listening to me and sometimes her mother. I speak in English, and she mostly answers in her first language. The message still gets through. We share wonderful times.
Hugs to all from a dedicated Granny.
(Present Time 198, January 2020)