For the Love of Grandparents

From my blog on www.parentsociety.com

It was Grandparents’ Day on September 9, and I found myself wistfully reminiscing about life with my grandparents.
I remember distinctly the span of time — about a year — when the home in which I grew up was filled to the brim with grandparents. Along with my mom, dad, and brother, we lived with my dad’s parents, who were declining in health. They moved into our family room. My mom’s mom lived upstairs in a large room. Throw in a cat or two, and our five bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom house was full.
I did not necessarily mind the presence of the grandparents. I was not only a momma’s boy, but I was the apple of my grandmothers’ eyes on both sides of the family divide. I could do no wrong in any of their eyes (or that’s what I liked to think.) Unconditional love came into my life in a feminine form, and I cannot say that I minded it at all. I rather enjoyed it, and milked it for all it was worth.
My children are now the recipients of grandmotherly and grandfatherly affection on both their mom and dad’s sides of the family, and they don’t seem to mind it at all either. They have received their share of special gifts given to them “just because” and for no other special reason. My mom has sewed dresses, Harry Potter capes, and knitted Hogwarts scarves, and has created elaborate quilts for both children’s beds … all keepsakes. My dad loved to watch movies with the children. He is well-remembered for watching Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart” with them and forgetting to fastforward through the bloodiest scenes. The other set of grandparents are equally guilty for doting on my children, taking them on cruises to Alaska, and showering them with attention. They’ve gone on long hikes in the woods and spent time in the kitchen making the family’s favorite Christmas cookies, an old German recipe passed down generation to generation.
Read more: http://www.parentsociety.com/todays-family/same-sex-parents/for-the-love-of-grandparents/