Your children may be grown and have families of their own but that doesn’t mean that they want you out of their life. They want to share things with you and be able to have an adult conversation without feeling like they are inadequate in their parenting. We as mothers know that we make mistakes and have struggles and we want to share them with you without any judgment or scolding. Your grandchildren want that too.
Your grandchildren want your full attention and that to them is more precious than you bringing them loads of gifts and gadgets. Take the time to get to know your grandchildren because this shows them that you actually care about them.
Play with them, read them a book, take them to the playground, cook or bake with them, there are so many things you can do.
Share your wisdom and your stories with your grandchildren and you should start when they are young because that is how you build that relationship with them as they get older. That is something my parents missed out on and it makes me very sad.
I recently had my parents come for a visit. They live about 14 hours away so my family doesn’t get to see them that often. It was wonderful to have them here but even more so I was overjoyed that they would be spending time with their grandchildren. My 20 month old little boy was super excited to spend time with them because he had their full attention. That is all he wanted. My daughters however do not have a close relationship with their grandparents. Sure they spent a little bit of time but it wasn’t memorable and my parents don’t really try to have a closer relationship and it breaks my heart.
I wish I could say that I had great grandparents with whom I got to spend a lot of time with but as it turns out I didn’t. Both my grandmothers were gone before I was five years old. As I was growing up I saw my friends have grandparents and I thought how lucky they were. My husband on the other hand, did have grandparents growing up and his relationship with his grandma was one of the best he ever could have.
A word to the grandchildren, please appreciate your grandparents. You have no idea how blessed you are to have them. They are wise and you can learn quite a lot from them. Take the time to reach out to them and strengthen your relationship.
Some of you out there probably have the best grandparents out there and what I want you to realize is just how blessed you are. For those of you who don’t, I feel for you. Life is here today and can be gone tomorrow. Let’s make the most of our time because that is something we cannot get back.
As the saying goes, you don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone. Let’s not do that.
