The importance of the unimportant

Recently, I had the privilege (and challenge!) of babysitting three of my grandchildren for the weekend. Ages ranged from 4 to 11.

I had big plans for that weekend, including some writing, yard work and cleaning. Ironically, those are the three things I never even got close to doing! And do you know what? I couldn’t be happier.

The things we did accomplish included painting, playing with PlayDoh, playing games, even Transformers. These things, though seemingly of little importance to some, were of the utmost importance to those kids. And therefore, they were of the utmost importance to me.

Upon closer scrutiny, the paintings done by my 11-year-old granddaughter were tributes to the fallen of 9/11. She had learned about it in school and had a lot of questions, resulting in deep conversations.

She ultimately created four paintings that brought me to tears. Oh yes, her paintings were of the utmost importance.

Games. How many times can you play Don’t Break the Ice or The Fishing Game? The answer is, as many times as your young grandson asks. It was important for him, and yes, I did let him win most of the games. But the fun part was just the bond created as we played. And the best part was his smile. Important? You betcha.

My 8-year-old granddaughter, who I don’t usually get to see too much, surprised me by asking if she could say grace at the table before dinner. Of course, we were delighted. She was helpful, often taking care of her younger brother and translating for him when I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

She was a protector and playmate to him all at the same time. I learned a lot about her that weekend. And it was wonderful.

These are the things, in my opinion, that should be at the top of my priority list. Maybe I didn’t get any cleaning done, but that can wait. The grass may get a tad longer before I get to cutting it and my writing may be postponed by a day, but the smiles of those kids and the laughs we shared made it all worthwhile.

I think perhaps the greatest gifts we have are the voices of young children. They are unfiltered and pure and will tell you the truth no matter what. And their imaginations — wow! The dialogs shared were incredible. Because I took time to do unimportant things, I learned things of great importance about each one of them.

I have always been one to look for the rainbow instead of focusing on the storm, a trait passed on to me by my parents. In doing so, I’ve learned that what some others consider important really are of little consequence.

Wealth, status, material possessions — they are of little importance to me. But time spent with loved ones, of any age … well, that to me is the most important thing in my life. I will drop what I’m doing at the chance to spend time with them. Time flies — and with that, the opportunities to enjoy their company. What more important thing could there be than the unimportant?