Grandparents gave the most adorable answers when asked about the one thing grandchildren do to make them feel loved, and the bond between these generations seems so special.
Having a close relationship with grandchildren is beneficial to grandparents in so many ways. Older generations teach grandkids important life lessons their own parents haven't learnt yet, and set them up with positive habits to last a lifetime. Not only that, grandparents make the best holiday companions and hold the secret to happy family travel.
To find out just how enamoured some little ones are with their grandparents, we asked a group of grandparents to share with us one thing their grandkids did that made them feel loved. We share the adorable answers they gave, that will surely make for memories that will last a long time - here's what they shared with us.
Things grandchildren did to make grandparents feel loved
- Kath is a grandmother of five. She tells us "As soon as he could walk to school on his own, my oldest grandson would stop at my house for breakfast on his way to school. When he and his family moved across the country I was inconsolable. In the end, me and my husband dropped everything and moved ourselves to be near them. As soon as we lived near him again, my grandson continued the tradition of coming over every morning. When he went to university I knew it couldn't continue, but the lovely lad made the time to come every second Saturday to see me. His visits for so many years have made me feel so special."
- Jilly has three grandchildren, and she has a single memory from a holiday with her grandchildren that she loves the most. She says "I was on holiday with two of my grandchildren. It had been a difficult day and there'd been some tears over various things. I was in the softplay with my granddaughter while her parents had dinner. She suddenly threw her arms around me and shouted 'I love being on holiday with you grandma, I just really, really love you.' That memory will stay with me forever."
- Grandmother-of-two, Mary, shares "I used to visit my grandchildren every Thursday. They'd always be waiting at the window for me, and as they got older they started making little signs to hold up for me to read as I walked up the road. They'd say things like 'we love you nanny' and 'best nanny ever' and it always brought a tear to my eye."
- Anne has six grandchildren, and although her husband isn't her grandchildren's biological grandfather, they still make him feel loved. "We agreed that I'd be called grandma, my former husband would be grandpa, and my second husband would be known by his given name, Stephen. I love strawberries and always offer the grandchildren strawberries when they visit - I soon became 'Grandma Strawberry'. The grandchildren love my second husband and one day, one of them looked at him and said 'you're not Stephen, you're Ste-FUN!' The name's evolved into 'Bampy Fun,' So now we're Grandma Strawberry and Bampy Fun, and I can't tell you how much those names, totally unique to us, make us feel loved."
- John has three grandchildren, and shares a particular interest with one of his grandsons. He says "I was a train engineer by trade, and always loved trains. My wife and children were never interested in hearing about trains and made jokes about 'train spotters' if I ever talked about them. When I retired, I built a workshop in the garden so I could still potter about with train parts. My middle grandson now loves trains and is fascinated by my workshop and all the train parts. I finally have someone to talk about trains with. When he visits he takes my hand and starts walking towards the garden workshop, saying 'Shed Pops, shed!' What a joy for me."
- Grandfather, Rod, shares a slightly different story. He says "I didn't do much of the child-raising when my own children were small, my wife did everything while I worked. Having grandchildren has been such an experience for me, like learning to be a dad for the first time. I've never considered anyone's reaction to me 'popping my clogs' until one of my grandchildren burst into tears and said 'I don't want you to die grandpa, I can't live without you.' It made me cry myself if I'm honest. To be loved like that, and that the poor chap let that worry build up in him. His parents have had to have difficult chats with him about dying and things, but I won't forget the feeling that I've had that much of an impact on somebody."
- Grandmother-of-four, Maggie, tells us "For me, it was two of my grandsons getting their first phones. Not only did they insist we get WhatsApp on our phones, they sat with us and showed us how to use it. Then, whenever they go on holiday, they constantly send us photographs and sometimes video diaries at the end of the day. We're absolutely thrilled by it. When they were little we'd always wish them happy holidays and tell them to think of us but always thought we were out of sight, out of mind once they'd gone. Now we know they really are thinking of their old nan and granddad when they're away, and how lucky are we?"
For more on the older generations, some grandparents naturally find it hard if grandchildren favour their other grandparents, but an expert shares why they needn't worry. Looking after grandchildren is better for the brain than sudoku, and even if grandparents live in a different city, they can still have a successful long distance relationship with grandkids.
