While organizing stuff in the kitchen I came upon my granddaughters' abandoned, grade-school lunch kits: Tupperware boxes, plastic cutlery sets, Dora the Explorer lunchboxes, and all kinds of thermoses. I recalled many occasions in which those were lovingly filled with food, snacks, and juice and tucked inside their schoolbags. We amassed quite a lot, because my granddaughters liked having a new set every year, along with their school stuff. One granddaughter is now a young adult, another past her mid-teens. I know that they will never miss those items. They are now into campus cafes and off-campus restaurants.

It is only grandparents such as I who have the magical power to turn back time and see their grandchildren as grade-school students once again.