Teaching Everything You Know

 

Magic is one of those words that shifts meaning depending on who's asking and who's answering. It's been around for thousands of years, popping up in ancient rituals, stage shows, fantasy novels, card games, and even scientific philosophy. Today's Sunday Blog is all about the Magic of Grandpadom. 

Ah, but to become a Grandpa, you had to be.... just 'Pa'. You had to be a teacher.  

Fatherhood (and then Grandpadom) is all about the Magic of Teaching. (The Kind That Actually Matters). The real power shows up in the messy parts:

When you're dead tired but you still get on the floor and play. When you mess up (and you will) and have to look them in the eye and say, "I'm sorry. I was wrong." That's the spell of humility most men never learn. When you see your own flaws reflected in them and decide, right then, to become better so they don't have to carry what you carried. We are teaching everything we know, always.

As one wise reflection put it: "Fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man." That's the deepest magic. It's alchemical. It turns lead into gold over years, not seconds.

The truest magic of fatherhood is that it keeps going. You pour everything into this little person, and one day they pour it into someone else. The love doesn't end, it multiplies. Teaching everything you know. Forever. The circle of life and whatnot. 

Even the illusionists get it. David Blaine, the guy who holds his breath for 17 minutes and does the impossible for a living, said becoming a father was the greatest trick the universe ever played on him. It reshaped his entire life. Elijah Wood made a whole movie about an aging magician reconnecting with his daughter through real-world "magic."

Because at the end of the day, the greatest illusion isn't making something disappear. It's making someone appear and then choosing, every single day, to show up for them. Teaching everything you know. Forever.

That's the magic of fatherhood. And then the magic of grandpadom. Their first teacher. And then the magic of grandpadom is watching the student (your children) becoming the masters. The children becoming the parents - becoming the teachers. We are all teaching everything we know. 

Now that I am writing this in 2026 (at 65 years old) the magical technology of today, the 'AI' that is changing the world will be a part of (all) of our children's and grandkids lives. The Internet is forever. 

AI will become the teacher - if not already the 'TA' (the Teaching Assistant). 

AI will read every post, every note, every document, view every video on any subject, any topic - any person. AI will research 'the life of' and tell it's tale. When my three (for now) grandchildren are old enough to ask their AI assistant, "Tell me about Grandpa" they will learn much. I wonder if my grandchildren will create an AI 'me' one day, and have conversations with virtual me. Oh boy. 

The future of work - the future of education - the future of entertainment - is in the clouds. Thanks to the magic of AI we are all....

Teaching Everything We Know. Forever. 

{ Or Grandma }