With Grandparents Day coming up on September 12, it got me thinking about my kids’ relationship with my parents. Often, I find myself wishing they were just a bit closer. It’s been a rough couple of years, between the pandemic and my son’s severe motion sickness and car anxiety problems, and even thought my parents don’t live that far away, getting to see them over the past couple of years has been tough.
For much of last year, we kept our distance like everyone else
We tried doing video chats, but those quickly went by the wayside. My kids are still pretty little – just 5 and 2 — so this lost time together is kind of a big deal. They simply don’t remember them as well as they should. My son is especially shy around them because he doesn’t see them often enough, and that makes me sad.
As my parents get older, I worry about the time we have left
I want my kids to have as many memories with them as possible. Nothing makes you realize how quickly time goes until you have kids. While you’re in certain stages, they seem unending, but then all of a sudden, they’re big kids. Time just keeps speeding along, and you struggle to keep up with it.
My kids having a relationship with my parents is important to me. I’m glad my kids have all four grandparents that they can get to know. I had just two while I was growing up, and I usually saw them once a week during the summer, which is much more often than my kids see any of their grandparents. We all have our own things going on, and visiting isn’t easy to do right now.
As soon as my son can travel more easily, I have grand plans of going over to visit
I want them to get to go play in their huge backyard, where I played as a child. I want them to sled down the hill in the winter and blow bubbles there in the summer.
If my parents are up for it, I want my kids to have sleepovers there and play with ancient artifacts like landline phones, calculators, and a VCR. Going to grandma and grandpa’s house is almost like stepping back in time. I want my kids to experience things from my childhood in all their glory and the people that made me who I am today.
I want them to know and love my parents the way I do — before it’s too late.
