My kids are so lucky. They’ve got all four grandparents around still. Unfortunately, we don’t live near them anymore, but all the grandparents are all more than willing to come visit us as much as they can. In fact, over the winter, my in-laws spend a few months being “snow birds” in Arizona, now that we live here. And my parents just arrived this weekend for a 10-day trip (their third visit in the year we’ve lived here).
We consider the relationship my kids have with all four of their grandparents to be such a blessing. I remember when my kids were little and I would mention to friends that the grandparents were coming to visit. Others would comment that their parents lived right down the street and their parents wanted nothing to do with their own kids. They would say things like, “My parents say they’ve raised their own kids, and now they just want to enjoy their own lives.” Or, “They don’t want to deal with babies now.”
Those kind of comments always made me feel sad for my friends, and for their kids, the children who wouldn’t grow up with the grandparent-child bond. Every time my kids get to spend time with their grandparents is such a wonderful experience for all of us, I feel so very blessed that they have this connection with all of our parents.
What is your grandparent–child relationship, and how do you encourage it?
