I used to get frustrated when my parents spoiled my kids with food. Mommy says no dessert, Bubbie gives it to them anyway. Mommy says you can’t give a sick baby pistachios, Maw-Maw gives it to her anyway. I remember once getting so angry at my stepmom because she dared to give Emily a little lick of whipped cream off of her cheesecake (at the cheesecake factory, natch) when she was about 10 months old.
now, almost 6 years into my years as a parent, i’ve learned to cool my jets a little. i’ve learned something. something big. it’s a grandparent’s JOB to spoil her grandchildren. It comes with the title. parents are there to guide children. to teach them. to mold and shape them. to love them and to discipline them. grandparents are there to unravel all the hard work a parent has done. it’s paypack time.
one of my fondest memories as a kid was going to my Bubbie’s apartment for the weekend. It was the biggest thrill for us. We got to stay up late. we got to pick the marshmallows out of the cereals of our choice. My sister claims hers was Count Chocula and i seem to remember a smurfs cereal of some sort. but i don’t think it had marshmallows in it. we got to eat raw cookie dough straight out of the tube. we played with play-doh for hours on the kitchen table. and didn’t have to clean it up! we played barbies for hours on end in the back room and gave my zayda make-overs at the dining room table. we jumped on the beds and they didn’t even mind. we watched as much tv as we wanted and never had to turn it off. and we were allowed to sit as close to the screen as we wanted. we decorated their apartment with pictures that we tore out from our monchichi coloring books (remember those? anyone?). we were even allowed to use markers! that weren’t washable!
those were some good times, i tell you. i lived for those weekends. really, i did. and my grandparents did too. and while they thought that they were giving my mom and stepdad a break, my mother was probably sitting at home and thinking how many days it was going to take her to reprogram us back into normal kids again. i’m beginning to think that unaccompanied trips to the grandparents should be outlawed in our house…
the song of the day is back y’all!it’s In This Home on Ice by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It’s a good one. I was thinking of starting a video of that say as well. something from youtube or tmz that i find hilarious. or just great. like Justin Timberlake on SNL giving the best Christmas gift of all: His Dick in a Box
come on over and say hi at Cheaper Than Therapy today where we all mourn the loss of the OC. wah.
All three of my kids (ages 6, 3 and 14 months) L.O.V.E. going to Grandma & Grandpa’s house because when they visit, G&G drop everything and give their undivided attention to the kids. I agree, it’s the grandparent’s job to spoil them, love them, fill them up with the foods we won’t give them and then send them home to mean ol’ mom.
I know what you mean, Ali! My mom spoils the kids SO much!! They were jumping on her bed and my dad said “I think we should tell them to stop…they might break it.” My mom replied, “Oh well, we can always get a new bed.” That about sums it up!
I think it is good for them to know that rules and routines are not always the same and that they can do some things some places but not others…this is true in “real life” after all!
The monkey LOVES marshmallows. Can you say that? Can you say “LOVES MARSHMALLOWS”? Because it’s insane. And, you know how we know she loves marshmallows? Because grandma loves giving them to her, no matter how much I protest! Ew.
Her aunts and uncles (my bro and sis) are worse even. They like to play at seeing how many she’ll eat, saying “who cares” what Haley says! It’sgrandma taught them today, though, that they have to respect the mother (while probably chuckling to herself that it’s it’sgrandma’s job to defy mama, bwahaha!)!!!
Yeah, I nearly had a seizure when my mom gave my 4 month old baby some whipped cream off her dessert. Gawd, I was so idealistic way back then.