by Jay Payleitner
Adapted from his book, A Grand Way to Live
Most grandparents have half a billion unorganized photos on their phones. If you’re like me that includes photos of glorious sunsets, grocery lists, model numbers off broken appliances, crafting ideas, prescription bottles, hailstones the size of quarters that landed on my front lawn, and, yes, a few pics of real-live people.
My favorites are the ones of my grandkids. Some I took myself. Many were sent from my thoughtful daughters-in-law, Rachel, Megan, and Kaitlin. And, of course, my favorite activity related to those photos is showing them off. For too long, each time I pulled out my smartphone, I would scroll through row after row of images, never quite finding the photo I was looking for. That’s when I came up with one of my best ideas ever:
Grandparents, on your smartphone, create an album called “FOR SHOW.”
(If you don’t know how to create an album, ask a grandchild or your adult child to help you!) Keep fewer than a dozen photos in it … unless you have a really big family. Select clear, current pics that show your family members with their best face forward. Literally. Because everyone knows how to swipe through photos, you can open that folder anytime and hand your phone to a new friend, colleague, or airplane seatmate. Then simply state, “Here’s my family. Go ahead and swipe through. It’s just ten photos.” The exchange is so user-friendly, it doesn’t even feel like bragging. And it can lead to some great conversations.
What’s more, that “FOR SHOW” folder gives you instant access to every member of your family in no time at all.
When you carry, look at, or share photos of your family, wonderful things happen. Your heart softens. You are reminded of those loved ones as individuals. You are more likely to imagine what they are doing in that moment and to pray for them.
Your grandchildren may live nearby, and you see them regularly. Or they may live several states away. Regardless, their faces in your phone will help you hold them close.
Take a few minutes this week to gather and organize the ten photos that represent your kids and grandkids. (And maybe your dog.) If we ever meet—in an airport, bistro, church, or speaking event—go ahead and pull out your phone and click on your “FOR SHOW” folder. I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.
What about you?
The idea of sharing photos of your grandkids—or even bragging about them—needs to come with a warning. As described in the previous chapter, many folks our age look like they might be grandparents, but they aren’t. You might meet someone and make that assumption, which leads to a friendly question about their grandchildren. More often than we realize, that simple question can stir some heartache. It might be about grandchildren they never see, grandchildren lost to tragedy, or about a yearning for their adult kids to finally make babies.
So, proceed with care when it comes to forcing photos of your grandchildren on others. But feel free to view them often yourself—always adding prayers of gratitude, protection, and God’s guiding hand in their lives
Read more from Jay at Grandkids Matter here.
Jay Payleitner is a best-selling author of A Grand Way to Live, Hooray for Grandparents! and more than a dozen other books on marriage, family, and doing life right, including 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad, 52 Things Wives Need from Their Husbands, and What If God Wrote Your Bucket List? He and his wife, Rita, live near Chicago, where they’ve raised five great kids (and now have eight grandkids) and have loved on ten foster babies. For information on booking Jay to speak at your next event, visit jaypayleitner.com.
