Any way you look at it, being a grandparent is an experience that you will never understand until it happens to you. I have heard it compared to the feeling you have the first time you fall in love and to seeing your first child. Grandparents tell me that it just isn't the same. Being a grandparent is God's way of rewarding parents for not strangling his or her children when they are young. Being a grandparent is a parent's revenge on his or her child for late night telephone calls to pull them out of ditches or drive them home because they've been drinking. Being a grandparent and grandparenting can't really be described. A friend told me once that you don't know what unconditional love really is until you become a grandparent. A grandparent looks at this new little life for the first time and it's like God has just handed him or her a piece of his/her heart. The child of your child brings to a grandparent a feeling that can never be duplicated and a bond that can never be broken.
Before you become a grandparent, you can't imagine what it is going to be like. You might think that your friends who have grand children are a little crazy because they seem to think that grandchildren are the most wonderful things in the world. So, what do you do when you find out you are going to be a grandparent?
First of all, as soon as you find out you are going to be a grandparent prepare for your life to change. Next, find out what your resources are. Did you know that there is actually a Grandparents magazine? Online it is called Grandparenting.com. Be thinking about all the things you will be able to teach this little being. You will be surprised at how much they can absorb from the very first day they are a part of the family.
Remember that you are the GRANDPARENT and not the parent. Therefore, you do not have to worry about discipline. The "fill 'em with sugar and then send 'em on home" can be your motto. I would also suggest the motto "discipline as a last resort".
There are laws you need to commit to memory. A deck of cards do not always number 52; you can just as well play with 49. Never, under any circumstance, win a game at the expense of your grandchild. Grandchildren ALWAYS win (even when they don't). There will come a day when your grandchild will become too heavy for you to pick up. Grandparents know everything; you will find this out during your grandchild's first dispute with his/her parents. Get a local cell phone number with unlimited minutes so your grandchild can call and talk to you at anytime.
You should also remember that "the look" that used to knock your child to his knees does not work on grandchildren. They won't even see it.
If you are not going to be living close to your grandchild you will need to be able to create and keep the bond between you. One way is to get a free website online and post messages and photos to your grandchild for you. We have already talked about the unlimited minutes on your cell phone. Visit your grandchild as often as possible and spend as much time with him or her as possible. Send your grandchild mail each week. It doesn't have to be costly; children love getting mail. Little packages addressed only to him or her will be a special treat but a post card of your town will still be special and find a place on the refrigerator.
Always have a special treat for your grandchild when you visit. There should be something special that you always do together. Going to a movie, having a sleep over, or going to see Santa or to the haunted house can be your own ritual that continues till adulthood.
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