Enjoy Life Together

Make your time together magical. I recently took three little grand-daughters aged 11, 8 and 3 to the Botanical Gardens. I packed a picnic lunch and it was a delight from beginning to end. I took bags of stale bread and we fed the ducks and the swans. Then we went on the little train that took us all around the gardens. We had lunch on the grass and the girls played ball, chasing each other up and down hills. When we visited the tropical green-house, I was able to point out the beauty of the orchids and the different varieties; and the plants that had their roots in mid-air from which they derived nourishment. A walk through the Australian gardens gave me the chance to tell them about my birthplace. On the way home, we stopped for ice-cream and went to a playground with swings, slides and see-saws. It was an inexpensive day out that we all loved. Anya, the eldest, kissed me and said: “You’re the best Grandma in the world!” Never have I had a compliment to match that.

Share Your Experience

Children love stories, especially about their own parents as children, and particularly any naughty or funny things they used to do. Tell them about yourself as a child too, and about your parents whom they probably never knew, and your brothers and sisters.

Being a grandparent is special. I have a cleaning lady named Ludmilla. She doesn’t speak any English or Hebrew (I live in Jerusalem) – only Russian, and we inter-act through mime. But last week she came in beaming, with probably her first two Hebrew words. “Ani Savta!” she told me. (I am a Grandma!_) I hugged her because, even without a common language, I knew exactly what she was feeling!

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