Grandson’s Revenge

Several years ago, Anne and I were in Germany with our son Paul and his family. On this particular day we decided to go on a little trip. I don’t remember where we went or anything about that day except, there were 12 of us riding in Paul’s 12 passenger family  van. When we started it was daylight and by the time we got back to Paul’s place it had turned to night. According to my recollections we had a great trip (we always had fun when we travelled together).  


Our oldest son, Paul, was driving and we had had a long day, and we were tired, so it was quiet in the car because we were anxious to get home and into bed. I happened to be sitting towards the back in this large van and Hyrum, my eight-year-old grandson, (who is now 19) was sitting behind me and he politely asked if he could see my watch, so like a good grandfather I put my left arm over the seat, and he started playing with it. 


He was quieter than usual and absorbed with my watch. I was not paying attention and after a few minutes he lost interest in it so I pulled my arm back, and Hyrum turned his attention to something else. I don’t remember how much time had passed until we arrived home, but I do remember that it was late, and we were tired and anxious to get into the house and into bed. 


The next morning, I awoke early and got up to check on a few things and a few minutes later I crawled back into the nice warm bed. My wife awoke and asked me the time, to which I responded, “6:30” (I had just checked my watch) and the last thing I heard her say was, “Oh good! We still have an hour to sleep.”


Five minutes later we heard a knock on the bedroom door. This time it was Paul knocking to wake us up and tell us that we slept in and needed to get up if we wanted to enjoy the day’s activities. I was tired and a little miffed because I had just checked my watch, so I gruffly yelled at him, “It’s only 6:30, go back to bed”. He laughed and told me that I needed to check my watch again because it was 7:30 and we needed to get going. At this point reality hit, and it dawned on me that Hyrum had played a joke on Anne and me and had set my watch back an hour.


What could I do other than enjoy the moment and laugh at his joke and tell him he got me, and I enjoyed his little joke and his humor. This event was one of those small things in life that was meant to be fun and as a result it strengthened the bond we shared, and he knew that his grandfather could take a joke as well as dish them out. As I have pondered this event it strengthened my belief that by incorporating laughter into our lives it makes living much more enjoyable. 


I complimented Hyrum on pulling a good one on me and I reminded him that eventually I would get even which I have many times but of course only in a fun way. That morning after learning that I had fallen for his joke, I noticed a small increase in his self-esteem. Humor can do this. Helping our children develop humor is an excellent way to help them learn to cope with the challenges life brings to all of us. 



Happy Failing Forward,


Calvert Cazier




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