Life's simple pleasures.

[RSKY]

One of the simple pleasures of being the father of daughters is drying and combing out their hair. Guess it is because you have a captive audience and can have a serious or not-so-serious conversation while doing so. Today was the first time I have been able to do this with my seven year old (I'm nearly eight granddaddy) granddaughter WITHOUT having to sit on her to hold her still.

She is becoming quite the beautiful, witty, young lady her mother was....... and still is. The next one is three and unlike her older cousin has always sat still for her hair drying. Haven't had the chance to do so for the smallest of the three. Now I have a grandson, wonder what that with bring.

Ah,.... the simple pleasures of being a granddad.

RSKY

 

[Looking4new]

I see fishing trips in the future.

 

[Shaneard]

That's awesome you have that relationship with them. I wish my kids grandparents had it, my in laws come to the house and are ready to leave when they get there and stay maybe 20 minutes. Our kids see them maybe 1 hour a month, they live 15 minutes from us. MIL is very controlling and always has to tell us how to raise them so we don't even bother going there. My parents see them maybe 2-3 hours a month, well my dad sees them more but we haven't been to their house in over 2 years, my mom has controlling hatred towards my wife so we don't go there either, they live 3 miles from us. We mostly stay home and enjoy them ourselves, lol. Kids are awesome!


All my grandparents passed away before I was born and I never got to experience those moments, I really wish my kids could enjoy time with theirs, we have tried to work things out on our end but they are a no budge crowd on their end. It for sure is their loss.

 

[Thomas]

Cherish those moments.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

That's awesome you have that relationship with them. I wish my kids grandparents had it, my in laws come to the house and are ready to leave when they get there and stay maybe 20 minutes. Our kids see them maybe 1 hour a month, they live 15 minutes from us. MIL is very controlling and always has to tell us how to raise them so we don't even bother going there. My parents see them maybe 2-3 hours a month, well my dad sees them more but we haven't been to their house in over 2 years, my mom has controlling hatred towards my wife so we don't go there either, they live 3 miles from us. We mostly stay home and enjoy them ourselves, lol. Kids are awesome!


All my grandparents passed away before I was born and I never got to experience those moments, I really wish my kids could enjoy time with theirs, we have tried to work things out on our end but they are a no budge crowd on their end. It for sure is their loss.

That's such a shame. I was the oldest grandchild on my Dad's side, and my granddad and I were best buddies. I loved him beyond description. I now have six grandchildren, and we love them to pieces. Three of them are grown, but we have spent considerable time with them; in fact we cared for the youngest three until they were old enough to go to school.

I can relate, however to your problem. Our kids had very little interaction with their grandparents for similar reasons that you describe. They have survived admirably, although there is that void in their lives. We figured that we would do our best for them and hopefully we can instill in them that sometimes adults, even those we love, can be irrational and hurtful, and that they are not to blame.

 

[dmccarty]

While these are treasured memories for the granddad, these will be priceless memories for the grand kids.

:thumbsup:

Later,
Dan

 

[Shaneard]

That's such a shame. I was the oldest grandchild on my Dad's side, and my granddad and I were best buddies. I loved him beyond description. I now have six grandchildren, and we love them to pieces. Three of them are grown, but we have spent considerable time with them; in fact we cared for the youngest three until they were old enough to go to school.

I can relate, however to your problem. Our kids had very little interaction with their grandparents for similar reasons that you describe. They have survived admirably, although there is that void in their lives. We figured that we would do our best for them and hopefully we can instill in them that sometimes adults, even those we love, can be irrational and hurtful, and that they are not to blame.

I have come to realize things about my mom that I just swept under the rug for years and years. We try to raise our kids in a Christian environment and don't hang around what we know are bad influences. My dad was an alcoholic for years and I used to leave him notes around his hidden liquor bottles when I was a kid. I watched him hide it and I started drinking when I was 20 and turned into the same man he was. I quit drinking when my wife got pregnant with our son, I been sober for over 5 years. I know if I drink a little bit it will turn into full blown drunkenness so I just don't drink at all. I tell our kids all the time if you don't see mom and dad do it then we better not catch you doing it. That helps keep us straight too, lol. My parents are still married and so are my in laws. If my wife says her parents ask us to come eat or something I automatically put my defense up and despise dealing with them. Our son thinks I am the coolest thing on this Earth, I told him the other day when he grows up I don't want him to be like me, I want him to be better than me. Hopefully he realizes what I mean by that one day.

 

[RSKY]

We laugh about it but three of my four grands have been baby-sat by one of their great-great-aunts. She says she will keep the youngest for a day once he is six months or so. All of them know their aunts, uncles, greats, and great-greats.

One of the things my wife and I had going for us when we were raising our two was the knowledge that if anything ever happened to us the girls would have several families that would fight to be the ones to take them in. Just as we would have taken nieces, nephews, or cousins in and raised them.

Having a close family is a blessing that many in today's world miss out on.

RSKY

 

[Gary Fowler]

That's awesome you have that relationship with them. I wish my kids grandparents had it, my in laws come to the house and are ready to leave when they get there and stay maybe 20 minutes. Our kids see them maybe 1 hour a month, they live 15 minutes from us. MIL is very controlling and always has to tell us how to raise them so we don't even bother going there. My parents see them maybe 2-3 hours a month, well my dad sees them more but we haven't been to their house in over 2 years, my mom has controlling hatred towards my wife so we don't go there either, they live 3 miles from us. We mostly stay home and enjoy them ourselves, lol. Kids are awesome!


All my grandparents passed away before I was born and I never got to experience those moments, I really wish my kids could enjoy time with theirs, we have tried to work things out on our end but they are a no budge crowd on their end. It for sure is their loss.

That is so sad. I guess some parents just cant let their kids be parents too without trying to force their thinking onto them. By driving their children away, they miss the best part of life; being a grand parent.
I guess wife and I are lucky that all of our grand children got to be around us a lot. The first two pretty much stayed at our house more than their own and the first granddaughter still calls my wife "Mom" and here mother is Momma. This sure confuses a lot of folks who don't know who my granddaughter is. We never tried to run our kids life's but did offer advice when asked which is what parents should do.

 

[hawkeye08]

Being a grand parent is wonderful. One of our daughters lives with us with her daughter and has given me the role of father and grand father. I do my best to honor the boundaries and so far it is working well. Our other grand daughter is 4 hours away so don't see them much, enjoy the time we get, but we don't dwell on it.