I had two wonderful grandparents. Jim and Marjorie.
They stepped up. Our father didn't. They ensured that we went on a wonderful week's holiday every August to The Lake District or Scotland. The thought of them holidaying alone just didn't come in to it. I often wondered how they did it - three squabbling brats. Grandad would pick me up after work on a Friday teatime. We would wait. For Grandma to finish work at 9pm and pick her up. Grandad would take me shopping with him and visiting his friends on a Saturday morning. We would pick up crabs and spend the afternoon shelling them for tea. He grew Chrysanthemums and vegetables.
We spent every weekend together until I had my own children and then they were the step up grandparents for them too.
I owe them so much. And the only way to pay them back is to follow their lead. I've been a grandma for 16 years now and they inspire me every day.
Claire, I love this! We absolutely love being grandparents and growing into that role! I see many of our peers incredibly involved with their grandchildren and we all just cherish our time with them! We comment to each other that we are much more involved with our grandchildren than our grandparents ever were with us. And personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way! 😉
Parenting/grandparenting is such a contentious topic today because people simply don't agree, and the basis for those agreements are what cause rifts. We do have to admit that many grandparents today aren't interested in being as involved as their parents. There are plenty of articles on why, but mostly is because grandparents today want to enjoy their time no longer being parents.
Honestly if you were a parent nearly your entire life, and finally got to chance to enjoy your twilight years in comfortable retirement doing things like traveling and hobbies, would you rather do that or would you rather wrangle with toddlers and schoolage kids again? It's not just Boomers. I've talked to Gen-Xers who've made it clear they aren't interested in participating in the care of their (future) grandchildren because they've already done that.
My grandma was my first and best friend.
I had two wonderful grandparents. Jim and Marjorie.
They stepped up. Our father didn't. They ensured that we went on a wonderful week's holiday every August to The Lake District or Scotland. The thought of them holidaying alone just didn't come in to it. I often wondered how they did it - three squabbling brats. Grandad would pick me up after work on a Friday teatime. We would wait. For Grandma to finish work at 9pm and pick her up. Grandad would take me shopping with him and visiting his friends on a Saturday morning. We would pick up crabs and spend the afternoon shelling them for tea. He grew Chrysanthemums and vegetables.
We spent every weekend together until I had my own children and then they were the step up grandparents for them too.
I owe them so much. And the only way to pay them back is to follow their lead. I've been a grandma for 16 years now and they inspire me every day.
Claire, I love this! We absolutely love being grandparents and growing into that role! I see many of our peers incredibly involved with their grandchildren and we all just cherish our time with them! We comment to each other that we are much more involved with our grandchildren than our grandparents ever were with us. And personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way! 😉
Parenting/grandparenting is such a contentious topic today because people simply don't agree, and the basis for those agreements are what cause rifts. We do have to admit that many grandparents today aren't interested in being as involved as their parents. There are plenty of articles on why, but mostly is because grandparents today want to enjoy their time no longer being parents.
Honestly if you were a parent nearly your entire life, and finally got to chance to enjoy your twilight years in comfortable retirement doing things like traveling and hobbies, would you rather do that or would you rather wrangle with toddlers and schoolage kids again? It's not just Boomers. I've talked to Gen-Xers who've made it clear they aren't interested in participating in the care of their (future) grandchildren because they've already done that.