Grandparent and Parents

What's the main difference between parents and grandparents?

Time.

I don't mean grandparents necessarily have more of that, although they might if they've retired from their jobs and haven't taken on too many other obligations.

While some grandparents have much less time to spend with their grandchildren than the kids' parents have, especially if they live far away, others live with their grandchildren or take care of them while the parents are at work, so they spend as much time with the kids as their parents do. Obviously that's not the biggest difference.

But grandparents have the benefit of a different perspective because they have lived longer. They know from experience that problems like potty training and teenage rebellion, while difficult to deal with, only occupy a small part of a person's life. They also know the good things, like the fun they share with youngsters who think the adults in their lives are wonderful, won't last forever. As a result, while parents do appreciate such things, grandparents appreciate them even more.

When those kids are grown the people who are their parents today will appreciate their memories of those early years and realize they will always be parents, just as today's grandparents never stopped loving their own children who became parents themselves.

This holiday season is a wonderful time to create memories for all generations. But if families can't be together now, I hope they'll find time to spend with each other and create lasting memories at other seasons of the year.