Posted in Adventures of Being a Grandma, Featured
7 Survival Tips for Grandparents
Okay, so your grandchildren are the epitome of cuteness and extremely well-behaved.
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.
Those little bundles of sweetness may be oblivious to the dangers they impose, but they can be hazardous to our greatest sensibilities.
Here are seven tips for remaining safe and sane in their midst:
- Never assume the kitchen hand towel—or any other low hanging towel—is clean. It may have been used by children to wipe a spill off the kitchen floor or to swipe ooze from a runny nose or to dry hands that have been outside playing with snails.
After showering, be sure to peek out the bathroom door before stepping into your room naked—especially if your bedroom door leads to a common area. That door may be standing wide open and is now a large window into your “private” world.
- At Christmas, always write names on the bottom of presents. Tags have a way of coming off. When a child happily exclaims, “I’ll put them all back!” the tags won’t necessarily go back on the right packages—unless, of course, your grandchild is clairvoyant.
- Be ready to set aside your pride and any sense of positive self-image you may have. You can expect to hear things like, “Grandpa, why do you have red lines in your eyes?” or “Nana, you have old elbows,” or “Grandma, when you were little, did they have bread?”
- Never play “This Little Piggy” without first doing a mental check as to where the little piggies have recently been.
If you notice there are foreign objects floating in your tea cup after leaving it on the coffee table, do not assume they are crumbs from your morning toast. Even more insidious are the objects that have sunk to the bottom of your cup, only to be discovered as you are taking your last sip of tea.
And lastly…
- On a scale from 1 to 10—with a 10 being the worst pain imaginable—stepping on Legos in bare feet is easily a 17.
BONUS TIP—Regardless of the hazards involved, the joy of being with my grandkids far outweighs the inherent risks. So my Bonus Tip is this: loosen up and relax; unpleasantries last only a moment, but sweet memories are forever!
Disclaimer: I have personally experienced most of the above situations, but not all. I leave it to your imagination to figure out which ones.
Have you experienced any of these for yourself?
What survival tips can you add?