Dear Grandparenting: This is about my grandson, Eric, 9. He is an only child and my one and only grandchild. Eric spends most of his free time alone. So if he’s not in school or playing soccer or chess, Eric is by himself. He’s not complaining either. He says he likes it that way and I believe him. I guess the good thing is that Eric is comfortable in his own skin, which I cannot say about plenty of people I’ve known.

My main worry is that this flying solo stuff is not what I have observed in other boys his age. It’s natural for adolescents Eric’s age to hang around together, just like my brothers and cousins did and my sister’s grandsons do. When I ask Eric if he ever gets lonely, he tells me that “being alone is not the same thing as lonely” or how he likes “the sound of silence.” That might be true but it’s still not normal in my book. What are the odds my grandson grows up to become a social misfit like my uncle? That’s the last thing I need. Bess, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Dear Bess: We catch glimmers of a certain fiction that floats about in some grandparent circles concerning the horror of the little lonely child, bereft of friends and incapable of developing social skills, without companions to share childhood’s highs and lows. You obviously belong to that group of grandparents that assume their grandchildren innately benefit from fraternizing with their little chums.

But alone does not mean lonely, and to our way of thinking, your grandson’s independence forecasts a better future than a child content with hanging around with the gang doing little or nothing, or playing mindless computer games for hours on end. Eric makes time for friends during school and sports and then makes time for himself, a kind of emotional maturity atypical for one his age.

Don’t sell short the benefits of spending time alone. Devising ways to entertain himself on the canvas of his imagination should make your grandson more creative. Being free to pursue his own interests suggests he will be happy and self-reliant, able to find solutions for life’s problems. And as noted, your grandson is comfortable in his own company, which leads to higher levels of confidence and self-esteem. Now what’s not to like about that?

GRAND REMARK OF THE WEEK

Amalie Benning from Fort Worth, Texas, reports that she was “never prouder” of how her husband, Harry, handled a friend who was endlessly running down his grandchildren.

“I’m bored with that,” Harry told him. “Try doing what I do for once. I remember all my grandchildren’s accomplishments and forget their mistakes.”