We have three wonderful grandchildren growing up in our family. I love them with all my soul and give them all my free time, too bad that this can not always be done, because I have a very serious “competition” – my sister-in-law.
She is a professional educator, retired from the position of principal, and believes that better than her no one knows how to bring up children. Such are the professional deformities of my in-laws.
And I try to put my soul into my grandchildren, to understand their desires and aspirations, most likely because when my daughter was growing up, I spent too little time with her, giving myself to work. Even in kindergarten I put her in the extended group, from this horrible group for children (I only now realized how horrible), it was possible to pick up the child two hours later than from the regular group.
As a rule, I would pick up my Anna last, “at the end of the day. The little girl would sit sadly in the corner with her toys and wait patiently for her mother to come and get her at last. Sometimes I would take her away all in tears, my daughter was afraid that I had forgotten about her and would never come…
Now my heart aches with shame for my career aspirations and for the fact that I was a real workaholic, forgetting even about my child. So I try to make up for what I missed in my youth by giving my grandchildren the joy of companionship.
My daughter and son-in-law, if not completely as rotten at work as I used to be, but somewhere around that, they are always in some kind of rush, urgent orders, force majeure, etc. Honestly, I’m glad I did, because it gives me a chance to do whatever I can with my grandchildren.
My main focus is to keep them engaged in live, real entertainment, not immersed in endless cartoons and computer games. We spend a lot of time in nature, communicating with animals, and we don’t miss a single exhibition. Children especially like exotic insects and reptiles for some reason. I am wary of approaching aquariums with these creepers, and my grandchildren can not tear away, ready to stroke the “cute little snake.
Well, cats-dogs are sacred. We feed all the pets in the yard, they rush to us as soon as the grandchildren come out of the door. My in-laws caught us at one of these feedings. She was shocked that the children are fiddling with “some lichen critters” (an expression of a honored teacher). And “critters” felt the attitude toward themselves, and without a little bit biting unkind to them and the children’s grandmother. The same grandchildren rescued the mother-in-law by holding the dogs by the withers.
The former head teacher retreated to the staircase and literally ran up to the sixth floor, forgetting about the elevator, blood pressure and other ailments.
We returned from the courtyard when the kitchen was in full swing with a lecture about how I was crazy to let my grandchildren pet and feed the yard dogs that “almost ate” (another one of my sister-in-law’s pearls) an elderly woman. The most frustrating thing was that neither my daughter nor my son-in-law objected, humbly listening to my mother-in-law and mother-in-law. Seeing their absolute obedience, my sister-in-law put a fat end to her tirades:
– Here’s the deal! I’m taking the kids to my country house for the summer. It will be safe for them there, and I can always supervise them!
The grandchildren, hearing about this prospect began to roar. The youngest was the first to cry, then his older brothers joined in. They were shocked at the prospect of a sunny summer at “that grandma’s” (I am always “grandma” to them).
I will try to change the over-zealous teacher with experience, but it will not be easy to do, most likely have to escalate relations and little by little to ground too soaring brothers-in-law. Plus, I have three strong allies – my beloved grandchildren!
