Grandparents. An extension of your family that can be such a huge blessing. And definitely has been for our family.
Dancing with grandma – so much fun!
Sidney and I married, and his job sent him to West Texas, 7 hours away from family. After the birth of our second baby we had a chance to move much closer and we jumped at it. There are so many reasons I wanted to be closer to his parents, and to mine.
Brianna, hanging out with the grandmother who caught her.
I remember when I was in labor with Evan and I asked my mom towards the end of transition, “You really did this eight times!” Having her there, calm and reassuring made all the difference. Her experiences gave me strength to continue on my own journey. And of course, with Brianna’s birth things happened so quickly my mother caught her because the midwife hadn’t arrived just yet.
A guitar for a three-year old? Definitely a grandma gift.
Grandparents get the toys that parents would never get. Have you noticed that? The loud. The bright. The noisy. The flat obnoxious. The toys that my kids would not have a chance to experience without their loving and thoughtful grandparents.
Sure! I would love to ride you around the block. Over and over and over.
Their grandparents give them time and respect. Have you ever noticed that most adults treat children like second class citizens, barely worth common courtesy, never mind true attentiveness. Not so with grandparents! Every word is hilarious, or insightful. Every action something to celebrated.
How else would you get a burly rancher with a dozen horses of his own to pay $4 to walk in a circle beside a pony at the fair?
My parents (in-laws included in that title) are an extra level of support. A buffer between me and insanity.
An extra set of hands to help guide.
See the hand – the just-in-case arm of support?
The “I’ve been there, done that” laugh when things aren’t exactly 100%.
What do you mean I used to do the same thing?
Hand-me-down toys from the older “aunts and uncles” are super cool.
And when you wind up in the hospital dying because your gall bladder is trying to explode and take your liver and pancreas along with it? That’s pretty scary all on it’s own – never mind when you have five kids. So they spent a week at Grammie and Papa’s house without Mom and Dad, and then another week with mom resting in a borrowed bedroom. I’m not sure how we would have managed without the help.
They even got an Easter Egg hunt and a birthday party out of the deal. 
The other thing grandparents have for my children is the perspective and wisdom that comes from years I do not yet have. They teach skills I am only just learning for myself.
The value of food and hard work.
How to laugh and be cheerful. Respect others. Live with integrity.
I love that we are able to provide for our children two sets of grandparents that are worth knowing. Sidney and I had very different upbringings, but for both of us, family was of the utmost importance. Our parents live different lifestyles between city with older children still at home, and rural life with chickens and cows, but our kids are welcome in both homes without reserve. And are richer for the experiences they can have and these amazing people that are such a vital part of their lives.
Grateful to be a Hallmark Blogger this year as part of the Life is a Special Occasion campaign. They are sponsoring these monthly posts but they are all my original words and photos.
Yes! We don’t live by all of the grandparents, but it is worth it to make the effort to have the kids around them. Being around my grandparents at a young age really shaped my relationship with them now.
We don’t live close to our grandparents (and vovo’ & vovo) at all. One set lives in Brazil, another set lives in MN, and we live smack in the middle, FL. But we also depend a lot on them and miss them a ton. Skype and email and phone always help a lot, but it’s definitely not the same thing as having them nearby to feed from their experience and bounty of love. I was inspired by your essay and if it’s ok, I’ll adapt your idea into my own by sending them something like this from our perspective. Thanks for the idea and Good luck in your life as a parent, wife and daughter.
Grandparents are such amazing blessings. My girls only have my mom around.