I know summer doesn’t officially start until June 20th, but I have been dealing with temperatures in the mid 80s since the end of April. I don’t mean it has been that warm every day. It did drop into the 70s every once in a while. Like the day I went strawberry picking with my grandchildren – it was only in the mid-70s – probably because it was cloudy.
With school out, I look forward to spending more time with my seven wonderful grands. In talking with my daughters, I find that with mission trips, day camps, swim teams, away camps, sports camps, day trips, etc., it may not be that easy. Truthfully, I am glad that they have activities that include things they enjoy and look forward to, where they make new friends and reconnect with old friends, where exercise is fun, where they learn new things and broaden their horizons.
Our youngest grandson has some fun day camps to go to, but I expect when he gets home, he’ll want to come to my house. Not necessarily to hang with me, but to watch the construction of his, soon to be, new home. Our porch is the perfect spot to watch the action without actually being on the site. As close as his home is to ours now, having his family right beside us and across from two of his cousins will be wonderful! I am the envy of all our friends, having two of our families right here and the other one only three and a half hours down the road. I would be lost if they all lived on the other side of the country.
What if your grandchildren came to spend their entire vacation with you without their parents? With their parents only coming for a few days when they dropped the children off and picked them up. Their ages and interests should play a major role in the plans you make. Clearly, if they are infants, you’ll want to continue with the schedule their parents have established as much as possible. It would be unfair to send back a child with their parents who obviously hasn’t gotten much needed sleep.
With young children, see if your community has any summer activities planned that they might enjoy. If you have friends who have grandchildren around the same ages as yours, see if the friend wants to get their grands and take a day trip together or plan on heading to a local park with a playground. If you go in the late morning, take along a picnic basket to enjoy while your grands get to know each other. Who knows, the children may form a friendship with them and want to get together again when they come to visit.
Our oldest granddaughter and grandson would want to be on the go – mostly to the beach. They are both so busy, especially our granddaughter, that I will be very surprised if they are able to come for more than two or three days. I can certainly understand this, and we have no problem with driving to Charlotte to be with them.
I love the time we spend together. The where and when are insignificant. Wherever they all go and whatever they all do, I pray that they stay safe, don’t lose too many brain cells playing online games, make many memories and always know their Gigi and Pabo love them.
