Originally Posted by JanetM
Originally Posted by cjc
We don't have any children of our own, so we are doubly blessed that we have those in our lives.
Years ago we had elderly (HA, they were in their 50's LOL)neighbors. They were both career people, no children. I was 11 at the time and I dearly loved this couple as if they were my grandparents. Anyway, I would go visit them every evening when they got home from work (they assured me I wasn't a pest) to talk with them. They liked having a martini before dinner, so in quick order I learned how to make the perfect martini :!: When they were ready to make dinner I would go home just to come back when it was time to do dishes. I helped them every night, and yet my mother could never get me to help at home. It just seemed like more fun at their house.
Anyway, I guess I was their "adopted daughter".
I think teaching your neighbor how to sew is a much more practical idea :-D :-D :-D
Janet, Your message really resonates with me too. We were babysitting this young lad who was five years old while his grandmother took some courses. His bus dropped him off at our house that he recognized because we have a full-size teepee in the front. We always told the neighborhood children that we were a "safe house" and that we were the retired old folks living there. One day this young fellow asked me if I would sew his jacket that his mother (who was stationed in Korea) had sent him. He also told me that his grandmother did not sew, and that he always saw me quilting. I checked with his grandmother (I didn't want to step on her toes) who was delighted that I would do this.
He brought over his jacket and I mended it for him after which he asked what was I planning to cook that night. You get so much from these youngsters who are so bright and notice everything. When his grandmother asked him about us, his reply was priceless! He said that we were okay but that we didn't have any games on our computer!
:lol: You can be sure we did not, because that five-year-old knew how to double-click the mouse and get into our business applications.