My son is very fortunate in that my grandmother, age 76, is still able to care for him. He has “Grammy Days” and spends time with her. They listen to Bluegrass music and dance around the living room. They also spend time watching cartoons and movies, reading books and occasionally go outside for a walk.
It is much more common that toddlers spend time with their grandparents as many great grandparents are not able to keep up with the active life of a toddler. My son spends a great deal of time with his grandparents as well.
My father and I share the common interest of photography. Since my son was a baby, the three of us have gone out to find places to take pictures. This is something that we all enjoy. My son is following in our footsteps with the love of photography.
He has learned to take pictures with my camera and knows what the self-timer function does. If I set it and he hears the beeping sound, he will run with me to the nearest bench in order for us to take a photo together. We do this when my dad is not with us so that we can capture moments with both of us in the photo.
When my son is with my step-mother, they enjoy computer games, animated movies and pretend play. My son seems to have favorite activities in which to do with different people in our family. All of his grandparents have activities that they do with him so that their time together is spent building memories.
I feel it is important that my son associate certain things with having done them with his grandparents. I want him to be able to look back as an adult and say, “I did that with my granddaddy.”
That is something that I can say about many things in my life. My grandfather spent a lot of time with me when I was young. We did crossword puzzles at the kitchen table. We went to auctions in a nearby town. We made egg sandwiches for lunch. I’ll never forget these memories that we made so many years ago.
Grandparents play such an important role in the lives of our children. Isn’t it important that we capture the moments we can? Toddlers grow up fast. I just want to preserve some of this precious time with my son and my parents so that we all enjoy his childhood together.
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