Written by guest writer Renard, father of 5 and grandpa of 10.
Being a grandparent is nothing short of amazing! I have 5 adult children and currently 10 grandchildren (and expecting twins any day now). Our grandchildren are always a source of joy whenever we get to spend time with them. They all love spending time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We play games, take walks in the nearby park, walk to the library, go for bike rides, get ice cream. In short, we give them our undivided attention when they come over to see us.
We all grab a pillow from the sofa and lay on the living room floor to play board games or card games. They all get a kick out of playing the “old maid” card game. Nobody wants to be the “old maid” or “old grandpa” as we laugh and tease the lucky “winner!” Each and every grandchild runs to greet us as they come through the door then they make their way as quickly as possible to our back porch which houses the toy box at Grandma and Grandpa’s.
It’s also really cool that Grandpa is one of Santa’s elves who helps build toys in one of Santa’s workshops – Step2! They enjoy coming to Step2 for special occasions, to see toys being made by all the “elves!” And they all love playing with Step2 toys that Grandpa helped make!
We have many young grandchildren and they are so cute and fun. Watching them grow is a wonderful pleasure we miss from the years of raising our own children. We are especially enjoying the maturing of our two oldest grandchildren now 10 and 6 years old. Our conversations are deeper and we love to encourage them in all they do!
Looking back on life as parents, you naturally spent a lot of time with your kids. Life raising 5 children was sometimes chaotic with school, activities, music lessons, friends, jobs, etc. There were also bills to pay, houses to fix, laundry and dishes to do – LOTS of laundry and dishes! We think the difference now is that when the grandkids come over to spend time with us, at this stage of our lives, we don’t have all the other distractions, and stress, that parents have raising the kids. We just enjoy them to pieces and they enjoy the undivided attention!
Grandma and I will sit and relax when they have left for home, enjoying the peace and quiet and recharging our “batteries.” We often chuckle and laugh together as we remember some funny thing said or done during the visit. Grandma and I are left with a smile on our faces, and warm memories that we cherish, after spending time with the special blessings in our lives that we call grandchildren.
