Children and Grandparents.

A  Pen and Ink Sketch . France.

I am always amazed at the patience of some parents in supermarkets. They're children can be at their very worst in such situations, and all the wonderful delights on display cannot make it easier.

An old man was grocery shopping with his grandson. 

The toddler was crying, and at times, screaming at the top of his lungs

As the old gentleman walked up and down the aisles, people could hear him speaking in a soft voice... 'We are almost done, Albert...try not to cry, Albert... Life will get better, Albert...'

As he approached the checkout stand, he carefully brushed the toddler's tears from his eyes and said again, "Try not to cry, Albert... We will be home soon, Albert."

As he was paying the cashier, the toddler continued to cry as a young woman in line behind him said, "Sir, I think it is wonderful how sweet you are being to your little Albert."

The old gentleman blinked his eyes a couple of times before saying: 

"My grandson's name is John......I'm Albert."

And grandmothers:

Gran was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before. 

After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" 

I am sure she will never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye.

Grandmother was babysitting,

After putting the children to bed, she changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. 

As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. 

Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. 

As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"

I was spending a week on Iona with a group of other members of the Iona Community. At the end of the week my wife was joining me for the weekend. 

We had decided that we should take the caravan up to Oban on a campsite we and the children were familiar with. One my the members of my church who looked after the children  frequently was going to stay with them in the caravan for the weekend.

Ginty was a very gentle and lovely person, a schoolteacher with a marvellous way with children.

One the first night it was agreed that they would go to bed sharp and then get up later and have a midnight feast on the beach. The two were in full agreement it was after all a marvellous adventure. 

They had a bonfire with marshmallows and sausages. Ginty was reading them a story about cavemen. In her own way she was of course embellishing it with additional knowledge and information. 

My son looked her straight in the face and said, "Ginty you know all about them were you there at the time?"