Today while I was at my parents house, I began reflecting on the importance of grandparents. I grew up with my father's mother in my life until age 9 when she passed away. I never met my father's father because he passed away when my father was 18 years old. My grandmother is about to turn 91 and her husband passed away in 1972, so I never got the privilege of meeting him either. I grew up with one grandmother in my life mainly, and she was always very loving and I remain close with her. I was always envious of my other friend's who had both sets of grandparents in their lives. I realize that is not always possible, but my daughter has both sets of grandparents fortunately. My daughter is particularly close with my parents due to the fact that they adore her, and crave spending any available moment with her. I watch my father interact with her and it is so precious. She adores him and already has a relationship with him. My mother is amazing with her and adores being with her and she adores my mother. They strive to spend time with her as much as possible, which I love. My daughter also has the privilege of knowing a great grandmother and many pictures of their moments together. I know she will not grow up knowing her due to her age and illness, but I am so pleased she will be able to hold on to memories with photographs of herself with her great grandmother. I think I would have adore my grandfathers and I wish I would have had them in my life. I will continue to live close to my parents because I love them and have a strong relationship with them, but in addition I want my daughter to have them in her life. I am happy she can experience some relationships I was not privy to have with my grandparents.
Even if they aren't your parents it is important to let Irelyn see both grandparents equally! I know it is hard... believe me... my parent-in-laws drive me crazy (literally) but I force myself to make sure that Morgan and RJ see both sets of grandparents equally. Both sets love them tons and my feelings shouldn't get in the way, so I almost go out of my way to make sure they see Bob's parents... just some food for thought! Kids WILL pick up on your favortism, so you need to work extra hard not to write posts specifically about one set of grandparents versus another... remember chances are Irelyn will read this when she gets older! That is how I base anything I write!!! Glad to see she continue to hit milestones... crawling is next! :)
ReplyDeleteBeth I agree with you on seeing both of them. My parents are retired and home a lot, and my mom is my future daycare and my only babysitter. Therefore she see's them more often. I try to get her to see Jon's parents but they are usually busy and don't have too much time. I do agree with you on that though, I would never let my emotions get involved with Irelyn and her grandparents. Oh crawling is coming soon, she is a wiggle worm!
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