Spoiling The Grandkids….A Family Tradition

When I was a youngster and stayed at Grandpa and Grandma Dale’s house, I always had a great time. Grandpa Dale took me fishing at the gravel pit just south of their place, he let me sit on his lap and drive his little farm tractor and 1950 Ford car, and I got to help him make homemade ice cream. Grandma Dale let me help her gather the eggs and feed the chickens, and she let me help bake sugar cookies and pies and make sassafras tea…and I could eat all I wanted…I guess they spoiled me…and all of the other Dale grandkids! My wife’s grandparents were the same way with her. She had her Grandpa Clark wrapped around her little finger, as he would do just about anything for his cute little granddaughter.

Well, folks, we are carrying on the family tradition. Yes, when our grandkids spend the night, they pretty much can do anything they want. They watch their favorite shows, play board games, stay up late, and eat whatever they want. And when we take them out to eat, it’s their choice…and they LOVE the expensive restaurants! Of course, my wife stocks up on snacks and sweet treats prior to their arrival. We figure that if they get a stomach ache, it will more than likely be when they arrive back home…and their parents can deal with it..Ha!

I would bet that most of you grandparents are the same way. Why are we this way? Well, for one reason, we can get away with it. There are many times when our grandkids stay at our house because our kids want to go somewhere and they need us to babysit. On a short overnight stay, we believe the focus should be on maximum enjoyment! Our kids are safe in the knowledge that we will take good care of the grandkids, and after all, there will be no long-term damage from spoiling them a tad bit. We might have been strict in raising our kids, so now we are just making up for it…right? We aren’t going to let our grandkids do anything too terribly wrong, and they know it.

Now let’s face facts here. If we perhaps spoil the grandkids, it’s because we love them so much, and we enjoy the positive connection with them. It’s like having our kids back home again. We are extremely grateful to have such wonderful grandkids. We can also teach them a few things along the way and, yes, maybe tell them a few stories about their parents when they got in trouble as a child…so they won’t feel so bad when they make mistakes themselves. We can also be their confidantes, as they can tell us things they wouldn’t necessarily tell their parents. We can also give our grandkids 100 per cent of our time and attention. Why? Just because we can, that’s why!

Here are a few lines from my favorite poet, Edgar Guest….

” A Grandma never punishes or says that we are bad, She always takes us on her knee and tells us she is glad, To have us racing round the house, and when we get too smart, And Pa and Ma are awful cross, she always take our part….Pa says that Grandmas are alike; their job of training’s done, They don’t like tears to come along and spoil the children’s fun. They love to see the youngsters eat, and though it isn’t right, They never have to walk the floor or stay up all the night. And children know the times they go to Grandma’s house to play, Though bad they are, Their Ma and Pa…can’t have a word to say.”

If you have grandchildren, go ahead and spoil them…We won’t tell anyone…We grandparents have to stick together!

-John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.