Gortimer Gibbons (Watching My Grandchildren Watching Gortimer Giibbons Poem by Marianne Reninger

You did a nice job of summing up the puberty travails in this piece. I am very interested in this whole puberty business as I have three teens going through it right now, experiencing all of these issues repeatedly in varying levels of intensity. The repetition of the lines, Am I smart enough, pretty enough, cool enough, fast enough, Tough enough, loved enough, funny enough, brave enough...is spot on in so many ways. Its hard observing this process as a mother. On the one level, I I feel like I'm having to go through it all over again watching them struggle, but then I realize, I can be supportive, but this stuff they're having to go through on their own so they can progress to adulthood and be healthy. I looked up the show, it sounds interesting! I assumed at first that it would be about Gibbons... So back to the writing. This is a compact poem that conveys a wealth of ideas about puberty and your observations of your grandchildren. I was especially drawn to the second stanza. I had to go back and read it several times to make sure I 'got it.' 'Pabulum's congealed, jello has set Shaky at times, but requirements met/For positive growth.' One the one level, I read it as, the kids are properly nourished, ' on the second hand, I read it as 'their brains are growing they're becoming set to become adults, but they're not quite there yet....' and then I thought maybe there's something to the stanza that comes straight from the TV or about the TV show. The word pabulum has so many meanings...and they all applied. Great word choice. I enjoyed this poem. Well done Marianne. Definition of pabulum.1: food; especially: a suspension or solution of nutrients in a state suitable for absorption.2: intellectual sustenance.3: something (as writing or speech) that is insipid, simplistic, or bland.