Logan, a Breath of Fresh Air

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Neighbor Logan (11) had not come over to visit us for a long time, probably because he was very busy with school and sports. I let him in, and he spotted John at the dining room table. He made a beeline to John, hesitated a moment and sat down opposite him. He knows he is always welcome to share a meal with us, but we had finished eating. When John asked how school was, Logan responded with something he knew would please John. He mentioned that they have been studying Roman emperors in history. There ensued a discussion of what period was involved, and John brought a book to the table with appropriate photos to show him. I was impressed that Logan knew where this fit into the historical time-line.

We think Logan’s sense of appropriate behavior is far above average. He waited until John paused to ask what he came over for. “Could we play checkers?”

I have a standard ritual of hiding a granola bar for Logan to find. I suggested he find that while John set up the game. It’s difficult for me to find a hiding place that is challenging. Recently he asked that I make it a little harder! When he looked all around the room several times, I told him to look waist high. Bingo! He found it.

As the fellows played, I took a photo to show the concentration. They played three games until it was almost time for Logan to go home.

I was playing the day’s game of Set on my phone and showed him my time, which I think was over six minutes. I handed the phone to him, and he finished the same game in one minute and a few seconds. I am always impressed at how quickly he and David can solve those things.

As Logan put on his shoes, he thanked us several times. His manners are superb, much better than those of many adults. Every time I notice, I silently applaud Shawn and Bob for their excellent job in training him. These skills have become natural to him and will help him in everything he does for the rest of his life.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

46 thoughts on “Logan, a Breath of Fresh Air”

  1. Logan is such a nice young man, it is refreshing to hear about his good manners. He will do well in life. I recall my dad teaching all of us how to shake hands. My little brother was only three when he shook the minister´s hands after church. Everyone was so impressed. It was so cute.

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    1. Logan has been the only grade school child in this neighborhood until a few months ago. A boy a year younger now lives next door (renting). They have played together a lot, which is wonderful for both. I hope your grandsons will soon have a friend like Logan. We’d love to meet your grandsons.

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    1. Set is a card game. You find sets of cards that are all alike or all different until you go through the whole deck. Logan and I were playing a form of the game on line. If you are interested, you can read the rules on the internet.

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  14. He reminds me of my grandchildren who are similarly polite. I find it normal to be polite but their parents keep getting stopped and complimented on their behavior in restaurants. It is sad that what our generation thought of as normal is now extraordinary.

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        1. Logan is very smart. I’m glad he explores many things, including history. I doubt many children show interest in the past. Our grandchildren did and do, but they had John to influence them.

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          1. For my greatgrandson’s birthday (14 I think) I gave him a WorldWarII picture book that he wanted…when he opened it he was thrilled, and so were his friends. They all play high school sports, so I’m glad to see that they tend toward academics as well as sports.

            My late husband’s Uncle was one of his best relatives, in my opinion. He was an Episcopal church minister, and many of his secular interests coincided with mine, Native Americans, Latin America, human rights….etc. . When we had dinners with that faction of the family I always grabbed Uncle Gordon so I could miss out on nonsense dished out by “the nutbreads” as I used to call them. (They had tons of recipes, which they recited at the after-dinner grand court. )

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