Crawl Before You Walk

Dear Byron,

We saw you! You took a step, maybe two. You have been crawling everywhere. You're quite good at this crawling thing. Then you started to pull yourself up. Next you grabbed hold of that little walker with wheels and began to push it around with those awkward steps. But you did it. You were walking and we saw you. Now you want to go more often. You let us know you want to try it out. At times you stop, let loose and simply stand there all by yourself. You are on the verge of walking all by yourself. Its wonderful to watch you develop.

Most of the time we've been told that it is quite necessary for babies like you to crawl before you walk. The child doctors and those who study such things tell us that crawling helps to develop neurons, nerve cells that transmit signals. These neurons help both sides of your brain to work together. It is important because of the gross muscle groups crawling uses and the oppositional arm and leg movements. It will even help you develop skills to read and in general make all parts of your body work together. This crawling thing is important.

But there are kids your age who never crawl. Really. Some of them simply start walking as early as eight months. The doctors say that may be OK, but they still encourage us grownups to help kids crawl. For kids who don't, they tell us to get down on the floor with the baby and crawl with him. Make it a fun game. It's kind of a brain-gym thing and good for developing stuff like I explained above. Of course you don't have to be concerned about any of that—as if you were—because you're great at crawling.

There's another important lesson to be learned about crawling, one that will serve you well  in many areas of your life as you grow up. Always remember to crawl before you walk. As you grow you will want to do lots of different walking and running things. You may want to learn to dance, play football, run in a race, even climb mountains. Whatever the skill, remember to start out by crawling first. Learn the basics, build on them and practice. Little by little your skill will grow.

That's true with learning to talk, to sing, to write and a thousand other things. Always learn to crawl before you walk. It's important. Meanwhile we're just so very happy that everything about you is developing in this wonderful way. And we love to put our arms around you and hug you as we sing this well-known little kid's song.

My Eyes Can See 

My eyes can see. 

My mouth can talk. 

My ears can hear. 

My feet can walk. 

My nose can sniff. 

My teeth can chew. 

My lids can flutter. 

My arms hug you!  

Love you, Byron. Keep on growing up. 

GPa

Working Moms

Dear Byron,

These days you get up around 6:00 a.m. to leave with your parents for the child care center near your Daddy's office. The place is called Bright Horizons. It is connected with Chevron Corp. and available to all the parents who work there, people like your Daddy. You spend your day there while Mommy and Daddy are at work in downtown Houston. Here at our house we don't see you again until sometime after 6:00 p.m. in the evening.

When you get back you are hungry, but happy. From the written report Bright Horizons gives to your Mommy and Daddy, it looks like you have a full day playing with the other kids your age, eating your snacks and lunch, playing in the sandbox and riding around on the stroller outside. Mommy and Daddy tell us that they feel you are learning lots of things. Already we can tell that you are about to walk. You love to hold our hands and try that skill at our house as well.

These days we're getting ready to elect the next President of the United States. As the candidates tell their stories and share their ideas, one of the much discussed topics is moms like yours who work outside the home. Believe me, there are many, many mommies who do. The U.S. census estimates that there are well over 85 million. That's better than half of the mommies.

Here's what one study reports about working moms:

American working mothers spend one hour and 34 minutes on 'primary' childcare each day, including feeding their children, helping them with homework and changing diapers. They still spend far more time on childcare than their counterparts in Japan and South Korea, who manage only 53 and 31 minutes respectively, and slightly more than British working mothers, at 81 minutes. 

American fathers spend more time each day looking after their children than nearly any country in the developed world, new research suggests. But before any dads get too excited, they look positively lazy next to the nation’s mothers.

And here's some surprising news.

800,000 more women than men were on payrolls in January 2010


The milestone has at last been cleared: More women than men were on payrolls in January 2010, according to US Labor Department statistics for the month. That month, there were 64.2 million women receiving a paycheck compared with 63.4 million men.

That's quite a huge change from when I was growing up, Byron. Of course I grew up on a farm where my Mommy worked very hard from morning to night. Its just that she didn't leave the farm. Instead she had over a hundred chickens to feed, her own big garden out back, all the washing and ironing for us kids, my Daddy and the hired men and the task of making the meals. As I remember it, she hardly rested at all from the time she got up around 6:00 a.m. until she fell into bed around 9:30 in the evening.

According to the 1930 census almost eleven million women, or 24.3 percent of all women in the country, were gainfully employed. Three out of every ten of these working women were in domestic or personal service. Of professional women three-quarters were schoolteachers or nurses.

As you can see, things have really changed. There is lots of talk about whether this is good or bad. There is no one answer to that question. One thing is certain in your case, Byron. Your Mommy and Daddy really love you and they are going to do everything they can to see that you are cared for in the right way as you grow up.

We all love you very much,

GGPa

Learning To Talk

Dear Byron,

It certainly is fun watching you begin to learn to talk. Already at one year now you can say words like Mama, No, YaYa, Bye and maybe a few more. It looks like you are trying to put sentences together. And we certainly can tell when you want something or are angry that you can not have what you want.

Your Mommy was saying a couple days ago that she hopes you can also learn Spanish as well as English. And maybe you will. There certainly are many Spanish speaking people in this part of Texas and their numbers are growing rapidly. After all, Spanish is an official language in 20 sovereign states and one dependent entity, totalling around 423 million people. Many of those countries are to the south of Texas where you are growing up, in what we call Latin America. Thousands of those folks are moving here to work and live. Yes, it certainly will be to your advantage to learn Spanish. However, it is still best for you that English is your primary language. It is the world's universal language. Carlos Carrion Torres of Vitoria ES, Brazil
writes,

English is without a doubt the actual universal language. It is the world's second largest native language, the official language in 70 countries, and English-speaking countries are responsible for about 40% of the world's total GNP.

English can be at least understood almost everywhere among scholars and educated people, as it is the world media language, and the language of cinema, TV, pop music and the computer world. All over the planet people know many English words, their pronunciation and meaning. 

The causes for this universality are very well known and understandable. English first began to spread during the 16th century with the British Empire and was strongly reinforced in the 20th by USA world domination in economic, political and military aspects and by the huge influence of American movies. 

The concept of a Universal Language is more significant only now, in the era of world mass communication. Before this era Greek, Latin, and French were to some extent universal languages, though mainly in Europe. 

By a lucky coincidence due to factors above, English, the Universal language, is one of the simplest and easiest natural languages in the world. The only other simple and easy languages are constructed ones.

I never learned Spanish, because where I grew up in Minnesota very few spoke the language. I grew up in an area where many members of my community spoke German. That was the language of my Daddy's childhood. It was the worship language at his church and he learned his catechism in German. Because of that he always talked with a German accent, as did his parents, my Grandma and Grandpa. Let me tell you a couple stories to illustrate.

My Mommy was not German. She was British in background. Her name was Thelma Turpen. Her Mommy's maiden name was Iva Brommel. So she was English through and through. As a result, we never talked German in our house. Because of his German accent my Daddy always called my Mommy Telma rather than THelma. He could not pronounce the 'TH' sound—or at least he was not familiar with it. German speaking people do not use that sound. When they see the TH letters, like the Germanic god THOR, they pronounce it TOR, without the TH sound we use in English.

Another thing. We named our second son, your great-uncle, Nathan. So of course my Daddy said Natan, because he could not pronounce the TH sound.

I do hope you will learn Spanish, Byron. It will be very useful to be able to communicate with Spanish speaking people everywhere. However, we're all wanting you to learn English well, because wherever you go in this world, people now speak that language. It is and will continue to be the Universal Language.

We love you,

GGPa

A Good Friday Welcome

Dear Byron,

We're excited. This wonderful day is named Good Friday all over the world. And it really is good—for two reasons.

You, your Mommy and your Daddy all arrived today and not just for the Easter weekend. You are coming to live with us—at least for a few months, until you find a new home. You don't realize it right now, but everything is changing for your family. You no longer live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Your Mommy and Daddy have new jobs here in Houston where GGMa and I live. And you are staying with us until your family gets settled.

That's why we're so excited. That's why we are so happy that we could help you and your parents during this time of change. That means, of course, that we'll get to see more of you now that we all live in the same town. And we are so, so very happy about that

And this is Good Friday for another very important reason. This is the day that we Christians—and that includes you, Byron—celebrate and rejoice that Jesus went all the way to the cross and death in our place. The blessed, happy and very Good thing is that because of His sacrifice we all share in His loving forgiveness.

That's what Jesus said to you when you were baptized into Him. That's what He says to us all.

So we rejoice on this Good Friday, my dear little great-grandson. And I pray Jesus' many blessings upon you in all the days and years ahead.

Love,

GGPa