Being a grandparent doesn't interest me whatsoever. Babies are all right if they're your own, but I'm not interested in other people's. It's something you tolerate because they are yours.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
That's the privilege of being a grandparent - they can indulge the children while parents have to be the bad guy. Grandparents can also be subversive and naughty with them.
A grandparent can be simply affirming. A grandparent has been there, done that child-raising stuff, and has the wisdom of experience. And so in some ways, they're free to love without the anxiety of being the actual parents. They're free to give.
I get on fine with my mum and dad, but if they want to see the grandchildren, they come to me.
I don't mind being a grandfather; I've been a mother for so many years. You just can't believe what it's like being a father. Especially when you come out of the chaos of the road to getting married and having children.
I love being a grandmother. That feeling you have for your own child - you don't ever think it will be replicated, and I did wonder if I would have to 'pretend' with my grandchildren. But my heart was taken on day one.
The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy.
Now that I'm a grandfather myself, I realize that the best thing about having grandkids is that you get the kid for the best part of the ride - kind of like owning a car for only the first 10,000 miles. You can have your grandchildren for a couple of days and then turn them back over to the parents.
I think the great thing about grandparents is seeing another home, realising that people you love can have different priorities, different diversions, different opinions and lead quite different lives from the ones you see every day, and that is immensely valuable.
Being a grandparent is whole new phase in your life.
Everything people say about grandparenthood is true - it is pleasure without responsibility. It is unquestioned love.