Our then 5-year-old grandson, Josef, said it best: “Pop-Pops, I like to be here, ‘cause nobody yells at me.”
I’m sure his father would say that wasn’t necessarily true when he was a child but hey, grandparents are supposed to provide a soft place for kids to land.
Jim and I don’t believe in spoiling grandchildren with toys. Rather, we do a good job of spoiling them with our time and attention. At least, we do so when we get the opportunity. Josef lives an hour away, so we do have the luxury of time with him.
At our home, Josef has a cabinet of his own for his clothes attached to the Murphy bed in the guest room, and my utility room that used to hold my sewing supplies has become his toy room. He knows he belongs here.
Our dogs adore the child. The cats – not so much – but they accept his presence as long as they can watch him from their hidden places.
Josef has a few favorite places near our home that he likes to visit. He likes Village Gifts on Dearborn St. in Englewood! We stop in there occasionally for coffee, and he loves their ice cream. He always asks to go there.
When Josef arrives after a few weeks of not visiting us, he will check up on a few things he obviously considers important. First, he looks to see that an “award” document he printed out on my computer after winning some computer game is still on the refrigerator door. I made the mistake once of removing it and he called me on it immediately on his next visit. Fortunately, I had filed it and could pull it out in a hurry.
Our grandson also checks to see if the Lego ship he made still resides on his grandfather’s desk. Josef told him, “Ganny has pictures of me on her desk and you don’t, so I want you to have this ship I made so you don’t forget me.” Like we ever could!
Those are the kinds of “little things” that matter to a grandchild, and we make sure to cover as many of them as possible.
One summer, our then 13-year-old granddaughter spent 7 weeks with us. She asked how long she could stay and seemed delighted when we told her she could stay as long as she wished. All she had to do was give me a week’s notice to book her return flight home.
Of course, we were delighted that she enjoyed our company enough to spend so much time here. Never mind that we later learned she was just happy to get away from a huge, house-building project at home. We “saved” her from a summer of “drudgery.”
We take what we can get!
Entertaining a 5-year-old is easy. It’s more challenging with a 13-year-old girl. If money grew on trees, I could have just taken her shopping every day. That’s a fix for all teenage girls. We did our share of shopping and eating out and spent a couple of days at Disney World and Sea World. But we enjoyed a lot of beach time, baking goodies, and checking out the free and inexpensive sights in our area of Florida. Jim and I loved every minute of her visit, and I believe she enjoyed all the personal attention and time she didn’t have to share with her brother.
I’m big on crafts with the grandchildren. It keeps them busy, encourages their creativity and doesn’t break the budget. Josef enjoys making birthday and Christmas gifts for his Daddy. He has stained picture frames, painted a keepsake box, and created a photo album of his own photos for his Dad.
However you entertain your grandchildren, love them. Keep them busy and provide that “soft place to land.” They will always like visiting you – at least until they become teenagers.
