The joys of being a grandparent.

18 month old DGS on FaceTime kisses their laptop screen and says 'Uv ooo Nonna' and I completely melt
He could get away with anything......

We were an all-female family until one little boy joined the nine girls and I've been amazed by his innate differences. He's the only one to be fascinated by drain-pipes, diggers, Lego and fixing things. When he first saw my rotary whisk he got all excited by gear wheels.
There's no need to encourage girls into science and engineering, there are plenty of boys with a built-in interest in these subjects (which make me yawn, but I pretend to enjoy playing with cranes)

*flower *- what a patient cat. Our one is calm up to a point but runs away. He's never raised a paw to the GC although sorely tried at times

Youngest GS (3) eating his turkey dinosaurs (really crap food!) and suddenly shouting across the table "I love you Mama" - that's me!

That was definitely a boost to my morale!

Sorry to go a bit off thread but I would love to know how Nankate scales her own teeth. I am quite stoical about the dentist but I can't stand the scaling. Maybe I could do it myself.

Looking after my youngest DGD (15 months) and her playing with her cousin (18 months) They had become very quiet, I looked around the corner to find DGD 2 feeding the cat's bottom with a baby fork while her little cousin was trying to bottle feed it with her dolly's bottle.

I wish someone had filmed your early morning activities Kitty.

Whenever we stay at our GC's home we are so involved that I have to put my makeup on in double quick time and only give my teeth a quick brush. I always feel I need a bit of a scaling of my teeth (done by myself) on our return home.

This morning's joy:

Me sitting at my dressing table, wrapped in a towel, trying to blowdry my hair, DGD3 sitting on my knee emptying my make up drawers, dgd4 standing crying because she wasn't the one emptying my make up drawers, DGS2 and DGD2 fighting about who should have the box my new serum came in.

DDs 2 & 3 eating breakfast in the kitchen

I'm glad you mention Absent about 'pushing the boundaries' as my eldest GS nearly 4 does this on a regular basis. I try not to laugh as he has so many ingenious ways to spin out his bedtime routine.

I found motherhood a hard slog so it is wonderful to have a second chance to do things better.

I know that feeling TwiceAsNice. I was in a restaurant with my grandchildren and my grandson suddenly put his arms around me and said
"I do love you Nan."
Makes it all worthwhile.

My beautiful 5 year old grand-daughters are lovely and say funny/ nice things all the time but I still remember when M said the best compliment ever when I was carrying her up the stairs to bath her. She was only 2 and a half and suddenly put her arms all round my neck in a tight hug and said" Oh Granny I love you so much" my eyes filled up so much I could hardly see where I was walking.

When someone crosses the line – and I spend a lot of time with someone who is two and three-quarters pushing the boundaries – one of the other grandchildren (or sometimes all of them) points out that "you don't want to make Granna cross. No, they don't.

My friends little GD aged almost 5 heard her daddy on the phone to her Grandma. The phone was out of range so the voice was very disjointed.
"grandma, why does daddy's voice sound funny?", "Because the phone didn't have a very good signal" "Well, I think that daddy needs to go back to school to learn how to speak properly again!"

I was wearing a new pair of jeans when DGD who was aged 2 came to visit. She walked in and exclaimed,"Oo gannie, nice touser". It is the best compliment I will ever be given.

My little GD was very impressed by my ensuite bathroom and wanted a detailed account of how I could get up in the night and do a Poo.

We have 5 grandchildren three girls and two boys aged 9 months to 3! The eldest GD and her sister live in London but they all came to us (their cousins live close by) over Christmas for 6 days. She informed her mother on Saturday, that she wanted to go in the car and see Nana. That is up there with the best compliments I have ever received!

I adore my little 6 month old grandson - our first. It took a while for me to "get" him - but now I miss him when I don't see him at least once a week. He doesn't yet tell me how wonderful I am, but I get a big hello beaming grin which is just lovely. He knows me

His mum sends me short videos of him at other times, usually when he is cooing and gurgling. They make my day. At the moment the extent of my interactive times with him mainly includes singing!

AND the cookie dough ice cream....

Apparently I am the most popular babysitter in the world. "She let us sprinkle our own cheese on our pasta –and as much as we wanted." "Then she gave us cookie dough ice cream for pudding." A couple of spoons of grated cheese and I am awesome??????????????

I guess it's not all down to gender but also to nature.

My GD came running in and said she had tidied up the dining room. I was doubtful but went with her to have a look. It was incredible she had done a really excellent job. I think she takes after her maternal GM who was a brilliant tidier upper.

Kitty we recently had all four GC overnight so I know all about the 'six in a bed' experience
We bathed the two youngest (boy 4 and girl 3 cousins!) together and listened amused to their very sensible discussion about the differences in anatomy they noticed in each other.

I have 5 grandsons and one granddaughter. She has no 'tidy' instinct whatsoever! She is sometimes lazy, sullen and selfish, but of course I love her to bits. Her older brother, 15, is the caring one (takes after me?) who loves ironing and cleaning!

After 3 sons and a grandson I now have a grand daughter - coming up to 4. She is soo different to little boys and I am always amazed by her willingness to help tidy up, lay the table etc., Not sure if I should encourage this but it seems to be a natural instinct. I have ecema on my neck and she asked me what it was, did it hurt etc., and could she make it better. To be honest I could have been covered in a rash when the boys were little and they wouldn't have noticed.

Sorry! Too early in the morning

Nothing better kitty [grin[ !