A View From The Hot Tub: Conversations With My Grandson

Grandparents Who Want To See The Grand-kids a Little More Often Should Get a Hot Tub!A View From The Hot Tub is a collection of stories about my grandson. It's also a larger story about our family, and the positive effects of children, in this case, the impact that Joey, my grandson has had on me.The first stories appeared online in a series of Facebook posts. This revelation explains the repetition of some of the basics. Elements like the origin of the hot tub, Joey's peculiar habits and my unashamed and repeated praise for my two life coaches, my wife, and a ten-year-old boy.To my surprise, friends and strangers began commenting. With each new post the numbers grew. There's something about a kid who repeatedly out-smarts the adults in the room that triggers a laugh. I knew this - Laura and I were the first two laughing. Still, the public response was a major surprise. Joseph DiMaggio Mallory stands out in a crowd. Of course he does, he's my grandson. Not that I'm unique, but after all the years, all the time that passed while I wasn't watching the calendar, I'm a grandparent, the stereotypical variety. Quick to give eye-rolls to others who got here before me, now I get it - totally.Everyone knows that parents and grandparents think their kids are the smartest ever born. The ten, now twelve-year-old who allowed us to join him in our hot tub took the, Brightest Kid Ever Born, title to another level. What happened there, things said in the hot tub were just too good to stay in the tub.I'm still, and will probably always be amazed by the depth and originality of Joey's insight. When he's around I find myself wondering what will happen next. That might seem like a lot to lay on a kid. But hey, he started it! Maybe someday he will read this book and chuckle. I'm hoping that everyone who reads it gets a laugh; hoping all will experience something like the feeling Laura and I had while we were living these stories - a mixture of amazement and anticipation.Mike Mallory - August 2018**********************I've known Mike as a friend and fellow prankster. I've known Mike, the musician, through the eyes of his fans and our mutual friends. The point being that our multi-faceted friendship provided the perspective and latitude required for me to fill in and expand on Mike's original, shorter stories. As now, without a side-by-side comparison, neither he nor I are sure which one of us wrote what.Being a parent and a grandparent, caring for and enjoying life with and through the lives of those we love, this is the obvious story and point of the book. Knowing ourselves, becoming comfortable with what life and others bring to us, or throw at us, what happens inside as we learn to look beyond ourselves - this is another perspective that made A View From The HotTub  worth writing.One or the other, or somewhere between, readers will find their own reasons for enjoying the characters, their conversations, the antics of life in the Mallory household.In our younger years we were as full of ourselves as any two young guys could be. We thought we would never grow old. We still don't.Mike and I used to think that, “any day now” we would have everything figured out. We assumed that if not already, then soon, we'd be wise enough to teach the children in our lives - anyone, for that matter - lessons for which they would be grateful. Now we see things differently. Even so, as Mike is about to tell you, it's all turned out better than he ever expected.Tom Carroll – September, 2018