Being a parent is the best job in the world... until your kids have kids. Ask any grandparent about their experience with their grandkids, and they will tell you that being a grandparent is so amazing. It includes all the love, hugs, snuggles, and kisses, and much less of the parental duties. This phase of life is so much more fun than being a mom or dad, and here are 15 reasons why.
You Reign Supreme
In the eyes of your grandchildren, you are nothing short of exalted. At the top of your grandkids' Favorite People List are Santa Claus and YOU! You tell the best stories, give the best treats, deliver the best hugs, and rarely lose your temper. When you dispense your wisdom, your grandkids carefully heed your words, rather than rolling their eyes. The kids don't misbehave with you, because they know trying to pull off those antics is futile. You are the universal force of life and primo VIP as far as they are concerned. You are a unicorn, a magical creature, pure magnificence.
You Have All the Answers
Back when you were parenting your young children, your journey was probably filled with angst and anxiety. Were you doing things right? Were you making the very best choices for your child? Were the decisions you made for them going to enhance their lives or royally screw them up? As a grandparent, you aren't concerned about this any longer, because you know the answers. You know what works and what doesn't, and you have all the secrets and tricks tucked into the back pocket of your chinos.
You Can Finally Stop and Smell the Roses
Being a parent is a mad dash, 24 hours a day. Moms and dads find themselves going through a million emotions every single day, just to keep the world spinning on its axis. Grandparents, on the other hand, have loads of time. They are retired and ready to play all day. No longer is life a perpetual rush; and daily kid routines are a thing of the past. Grandparents recognize that life is short, and they relish every moment, being truly present when the grandkids are around.
Your Vintage Belongings Are Treasures
Your own children were not interested in your antique teapots, vintage hats, and costume jewelry, but your grandkids? Well, they think everything that you ever owned is a bona fide treasure. They will spend countless hours asking questions about trinkets from the past, trying everything on, and making the old new again. Your home is one giant treasure chest to them.
You Escape the Drudgery
There are no parent groups, doctor or dentist visits, homework, or ferrying littles around like you are an unpaid Uber driver. Nope, just all the best stuff everybody wants to do, like visits to the zoo, fun at the playground, picnics in the garden, or video game challenges. All of those tasks that you woke up dreading when you were in the thick of parenting are gone now, left to those poor souls you yourself birthed.
You Have Little Living Batteries
The saying "kids keep you young" is ever so true. You don't feel it when you are a parent because you are so darn tired... and stressed... and your batteries never feel quite charged to the fullest extent. When the grandkids come along, it's like you are reborn and young again. You roll down hills, play hide and seek and jump in pools. You even go underwater and get your hair wet! Chances are, your grown children don't even recognize the full of zest human you have become during the grandparenting phase of life.
You Love When They Visit AND Love When They Leave
Because grandparents aren't the primary caregivers, there's no waking up early or waiting up late. You have just the time you spend with them before you hand them back to their parents. Grandchildren turn up on your doorstep awake, washed, dressed, and conveniently ready to go. When the fun is fading after a full day of adventure and mess-making, you can magnanimously hand them back to their parents, knowing that they have had a wonderful time. After the grandbabies leave, you get to sit down on the couch and can stay there for the rest of the night should you choose. Back when you were parenting, that was literally your dream. You are now living the dream!
You Went From Rule Maker to Rule Breaker
When your children were growing up, you were the ultimate rule enforcer; you had to be! Who else was going to teach them right from wrong and raise them properly? It was undoubtedly a weighty task, but when it comes to the grandchildren, that task now belongs to someone other than you. You get to leave the rule enforcing to your grandkids' parents and go totally rogue in the rule department. When the grandkids are with you, go full-on ice cream for dinner and movies past bedtime. At grandma and grandpa's home, there is only one rule, and that is to have fun and live your best life.
You Have Reached the Promised Land... Patience
When your kids were little, you likely snapped at them, lost your temper, hid in your laundry room and ate a box of Little Debbie snack cakes, and cried in the shower. Parenting is a rough gig sometimes, and it can feel impossible to keep your cool and have patience every single day for decades on end. Now that you are a grandparent, you've reached the patience promised land. You have all the mental and emotional patience in the world. You can handle the chatter, the clutter, the bickering, and the pickiness. It simply doesn't rile you up the way it did when bringing up your babies, making the grandparenting experience all the more enjoyable.
You Don't Stress Over Their Diet
The grands won't eat their peas and carrots? No problem! They will survive the day on chicken nuggets and pasta. You know this to be true because your own child put up a stink over veggies, and the memory of food fights is forever engrained in your elderly brain. You have seen wars waged against nutrition and everyone came out of it just fine. Aside from knowing to pick and choose dinner table battles, you also recognize that the fight over food now belongs to someone else. The kids' parents wear the Kitchen Crown, not you. Let them struggle with the food pyramid and scour the internet for creative means to get nutrients into their offspring's bodies. You just pass the cookies.
Everything You Do Is an Adventure
Clearing out the garage? Playing cards? A trip to the grocery store? Just say the word, and the kids are there like you just proposed a trip to Disneyland. The mundane, everyday tasks that kids groan over doing with parents are a pure joy when done with Grandma and Grandpa. No matter what grandparents suggest doing, grandkids are sure to be overjoyed about joining in the fun.
You Can Give Awesome Presents
You get to buy all the loud irksome toys your grandchildren love, be adored for it, and not have to live with them! Your granddaughter will love you for buying the baby doll that never stops crying, and your grandson will revere you for gifting that noisy dumpster truck. This is your second chance to indulge the kids' whims with joyful freedom, without having to ever wonder when the batteries will run out. If you see a five-foot teddy bear at Costco, you can buy it for your grandchild. Strap it to the top of your car and drive it over to their home. Never mind your cross-armed, scowling grown child standing in the driveway; she'll get over it. Your darling grand needs this mega bear!
You Tell Better Stories Than Dr. Seuss
You've survived the years, lived through the swinging 60s, witnessed a world your grandchildren have never seen, and have a connection to some famous historical figure somewhere. Those stories which used to make your kids roll their eyes after they heard them for the hundredth time, are now the most interesting tales told to your grandchildren. You can make anything from the past sound great, and you also know some pretty fun (read: embarrassing) stories about their parents too. Those grandkiddos hang on your every word, and it's magic.
You Get to Skip the Power Struggles
You've raised kids, and you have fought the daily battles at length. With grandkids, there will be no recreating that heinous power struggle. You couldn't give two hoots if they had a bath, did their homework, or set the table. When the grandchildren are with you, it's always a holiday, meaning you don't have to nag them to do anything, and the only thing that matters when you're together is... fun!
You See the Fruit of Your Labor
There are so many awesome aspects to being a grandparent, especially regarding the grandkids and your extraordinary relationship. An added bonus is watching your own children evolve into amazing parents. Nothing will bring a smile to your face like watching your children step into the parenting role and slay it. You created that. You had a heavy hand in making your grandchild's mom or dad a wonderful caregiver and friend. You are amazing, and what could be more fun than seeing the fruit of your labor day in and day out?
Who Knew the Best Was Yet to Come?
Watching your babies grow probably made your heart ache. They grow up so fast, and you never get this time back. How could you have ever guessed that while kids do indeed grow up and fly the coop, life wasn't going to end when they moved on up and out of your home? The best was actually yet to come, and you certainly see that in your grandparenting experience.
