So don't think by letting your kids spend time with grandma will be a bad thing!

[Heartstrings]

As a “Nana”, I absolutely love this!

[Timewas]

1. Yes

What she said

[JoeOtterbein]

2. Don't forget Grandpops!...

...I loved spending precious time with my two little ones. I feel so special, because both are our first grandbabies who were born a little more than two months apart last summer.

I fortunate enough to spend two days with the two munchkins, and was so awash in love I can't explain it in words!

Anyway, here is my lame attempt:

Love always comes in Two's!

Thanks for posting!

[Trueblue Texan]

3. My grandchildren love the "birdie food" I offer...

...I don't remember when it started, but they were probably barely toddlers when I started a tradition of squirting Reddi-Whip topping in their mouths. I know it's not good for you, but it's mostly just air and it is SO much fun! They would open their mouths W-I-D-E like hungry little birds for me to squirt that cream in their mouths. Now when they come they always ask for their birdie food and I've always got plenty on hand for them! Great fun and great memories!

[SCantiGOP]

4. Thanks for the post

I retired about four years ago, and I now have the best job I ever imagined. Along with the other set of grandparents, my wife and I watch our two almost 4 year old twin granddaughters three days a week. They call me GG Dada, since they couldn't pronounce granddaddy early on.
My son and his wife thank us often for the time we spend with them, and for the considerable amount of money it saves them from day care. My usual response is that they are not very smart - they could easily be charging us quite a fee to get to spend that time with the little goofballs.
In my last years of working I started going in at 9:00 AM since 8:30 was just too damn early. Somehow, getting to their house at 7:45 doesn't seem like a task at all.

[woodsprite]

5. This is so true! My FIL passed last week and we will be going to his memorial service.

Gmom is expecting everyone to take part - Everyone has been given a reading part, and everyone in the family has been asked to write a remembrance and read it during the Remembering Dad part of the service. When it comes to writing remembrances, my kids never really had the close connection with him that my SiLs 5 kids did. I know it's sometimes said that a daughter's family becomes closer to her parents than a son's family does. I'm sad for both my kids, as these are the only grandparents they have to remember since both of my parents passed before my youngest turned 1. It seems in the 26 yrs of huge family night dinners, they were good experiences, but the adults talked to the adults while the 7 kids played in a different room.

Shared experiences mean a lot, especially those shared with the elders in our families. So, grandparents, even if you're busy, try to make time for all your grandkids - especially one-on-one. Learn who they are and what's important to them, and they will learn the same about you.

[soldierant]

6. I've also noticed something purely anecdotal

which may not be common, but

My mother's mother (my only grandparent still living when I was born) lived with us because my mother was a widow and had to be the creadwinner. She was the one in the home when I returned from school. She was kind of a narcissist - I know she wanted me to love her but tried to do it by giving me stuff - not terribly expensive stuff, usuallt y stuff she had made - but tjat was not what I was looking for. She was the kind of person that if you tried to talk to her about something she had done that you'd like her to change would justt deny it. If it was something you could shpw her proof that she had done it, she would just double down. I don't say this is a direct result, but I never wanted to have children, and certainly never dreamed of wanting grandchildren.

My mother was a child of first generation immigrants bothe sides. = she never knew a grandparnet. You know, I hear and read stories about parents telling kids they wan t grandchildren (and usually driving them nuts with the obsession.) My mother never said a word on the subject until I got married at 38 - and then what she said was "Don't make me a grandmother."

I suspect thta not having a positive relationship wth a grandparent can influence people into not wanting offspring. In a Malthusian way that might not be a bad thing, But it still seems sad.

[Rebl2]

7. Thank you for

posting this. Memories made with grandparents are so important. My Dad died this summer and my niece and nephew (who are adults now) have great memories spending time with him, especially my nephew. Their grandmother ( my brother in-laws Mom) died as well this year and they spent a lot of time with her as well and they miss both of them. My Mom is still alive, but not doing well. To possibly lose all their grandparents in the same year will be difficult for them and for me as well.
None of my grandparents lived nearby when I was growing up and often wonder now what I missed out on.

[Texaswitchy]

8. I spent two months everything summer.

My Grandparents were farmers.

I had a active two months.

Greats times.

I have my grandparents oil lamp and few other things as reminders.

I miss being in person with grandkids now but still talk everyday.