2023 Author: Anita Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 03:30
Let the grandparents come to the grandchildren and a wonderful thing will happen. A break from everyday life that brings a lot of joy to everyone's heart.
I sang on the swing with my grandma. I baked cookies at 8 p.m. with her, I sewed little clothes, I discovered treasures in her drawers. I grew up under his warm arms in a house that I frequented as often as possible.
I hit the hammer with my grandpa. I did puzzles with him, I cooked his potato fricassee, I sang. I slept next to this beefy man with strong hands that smelled of hard work and the sweetness of the love that I took without hesitation to let myself be transported to new adventures.
It's so wonderful to think that the relationship I have with my paternal grandparents comes down to memories of fullness, happiness and good times that pass quietly.
I was lucky enough to live 2 minutes from their home and I took refuge there as soon as my two legs and my mother allowed me to. I always wanted to be with them. When I had to start school, I went to eat with them several lunches a week. I still remember the smellgood soup and grilled sandwiches.
As a teenager, I went there less often, but I remember that I always liked to take a short walk there. I sat next to my grandpa and watched him fiddle with any piece of furniture, despite his increasingly intrusive Parkinson's. I see him sitting in his rocking chair telling us memories of his childhood or telling us good jokes and laughing heartily.
Other times I would sit at the kitchen table with my grandma and bake donuts or cookies. I can see her humming while she was patching or knitting stockings. I went to live in an apartment with not much in the truck, but I had the rocking chair that my grandfather had helped me strip after buying it at a yard sale. I still have it today! I cradled my children in it, but unfortunately my grandfather left us before he saw me in my wedding dress or in my maternity dresses.
Now I'm a mother and I'm so happy that my children can share time with my grandmother. As soon as I can, I stop by her place to share a good meal. She enjoys so much cooking good food for her granddaughter and great-grandchildren. She makes me laugh so much when she tells me that it's not much when she prepares pork tenderloin, potatoes, salad. There are always too many. Or when she finds she has no dessert, but stillshe offers us ice cream, donuts, cookies or other sweet wonders. My kids love it. She always has a little something for them, a little surprise.
It's the same with my parents, they are totally crazy about my children. They are (almost) always available to keep them. And they are always happy to do so. It's always the party when the kids go home. They monopolize all their time for my children. They are in no rush and they always have plenty of little treats for them. I am really happy that my parents are quietly trying to build a relationship similar to the one I had with my paternal grandparents.
Grandparents are precious, you have to take care of them, but also, integrate them as much as possible into the daily lives of young children. They have a thirst for learning. To learn stories from grandfather. Grandparents offer a lot to their grandchildren. Not money, but time, listening and a lot of interest in them.
Julie Bourdua, mom
I am first and foremost a stay-at-home mom who leads story time at my neighborhood library. I am passionate about everything that affects the daily lives of mothers and their families. The anthropologist and sociologist in me seek to know more about mothers today. You can read me on my blog.
