Chapter 10 — Grandkid ammunition
The pre-briefing
Before your next call or visit with a grandchild, run Pearl's move: "My [grandson/granddaughter] is [age] and currently obsessed with [the thing, however vaguely you know it]. Explain it like you'd explain poker — the goal, the appeal, what the frustrations are right now, and one genuinely knowledgeable question I could ask about it."
Then ask the question and watch. There's a particular expression a teenager makes upon discovering a grandparent knows something real about their world — it's brief, they suppress it fast, and Pearl has a name for it that the coffee group has voted the best two words in this book. You'll know it when you see it.
(It's "made contact.")
The family four
1. The referee
Settle a family argument — facts only, and if this is actually a matter of opinion, say so and refuse the case. The dispute: [the claim]. Give the answer, the confidence level, and where we'd verify it if we were betting the boat.
2. The homework coach
My grandchild is in [grade] and needs help with [topic]. Don't solve anything. Explain it to me well enough that I can explain it over the phone — one idea at a time, one worked example of a similar problem, and the two places kids usually get stuck.
3. The decoder ring
Translate the following from my [age]-year-old grandchild, spirit included: [paste exactly]. Then: which of these would I embarrass myself by using, and what's one thing about their current world I could ask a genuinely good question about?
4. The review board
For running with the grandkid, out loud, together
We're looking at something from the internet and deciding whether to believe it: [paste or describe]. Walk us through it like a coach — what's designed to be believed, what would need verifying, and how we'd verify it through the front door. We'll take it from there.
That "we" is the whole trick, and it's the last one the book has to teach. Which means it's time to talk about what happens when the book ends — how much of this to keep, what to ignore, and how to be a person who uses the machine without becoming a person who talks about it. Frank has thoughts. They're brief.
Works in ChatGPT, Claude, or any of their cousins.