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Give us your tips on becoming a new grandparent and win a lovely personalised baby gift set

(56 Posts)
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KatGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 21-Jun-13 10:51:06

The birth of the royal baby in mid-July <sounds fanfare> will be Carole and Michael Middleton's and Charles and Camilla's inauguration into grandparenthood. What tips would you give them?

What has experience of the first grandchild taught you? Anything you wished you'd known beforehand? How did you deal with your children becoming parents?

The gransnetter who gives the best tip (as judged by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall - author of The Good Granny Guide: Or How to Be a Modern Grandmother and our Good Granny Guide section) will win a Royal Range gift set from My 1st Years. This gorgeous gift set is embroidered with a gold HRH crown and will be personalised with your grandchild's name. The set includes a bodysuit, sleepsuit, hat and bib, all made from high quality cotton, as well as a soft fleece blanket and luxurious pair of HRH sheepskin booties. The set is beautifully packaged in a blue My 1st Years gift box.

You can read our T&Cs for competitions here.

Please post your answers on this thread. The competition will close on 5 July and the winner will be picked shortly after. We'll announce the winner on this thread and the Won Anything? thread.

(This competition is featured on: ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions - ABCWin - Competition Hunter)

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lillyfer Fri 05-Jul-13 12:57:29

A grandparents job is the spoil there grandchildren but keep in mind the parents wishes

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HUNTERF Fri 05-Jul-13 13:27:59

I hope to be alive to see my great grand children and I do not mind if they are just girls.

Frank

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glammanana Fri 05-Jul-13 16:07:16

After waiting all that time for this special arrival you find you are biting at the bit to get your hands on this precious little person who has the ability to transform your life altogether,but you have to stand back and be careful not to allow yourself to be overcome and stand on parents toes,let them make their first mistakes and wait to be asked for your help,never ever say "I did it this way" just suggest if asked and then say "its your choice".
This has worked well for mr.G and I over the years and I can say DD has never fallen out with regard to our approach,it has been delightful watching DD grow and mature into a mum in her own right transferring most of the morals she was taught by us over the years,she is not perfect and will admit to that but does a good job and manages very well.

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KatGransnet (GNHQ) Mon 08-Jul-13 11:30:39

Thank you for all your top tips <takes notes>

We're going to pass this thread onto Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall (see OP) who'll judge the best, most interesting, tip to win the personalised baby gift set. Watch this space...

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KatGransnet (GNHQ) Mon 22-Jul-13 08:59:01

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall has chosen a winner, and here's what she had to say...

"Dear Gransnetters,

I loved reading your posts - so full of delight in your grandchildren and of wisdom. I wish there were a dozen prizes to give.

My own top tip would always be, 'Don't offer advice unless you are asked for it.' Most of you mentioned this - allybruce most forcibly: 'Offer advice only when asked! Bite your tongue the rest of the time!' Easier said than done sometimes.

styles5433's post struck a chord with me'... inside I am sixteen...' she wrote. I feel much he same when I'm with my about-to-be 17-year-old eldest granddaughter. And I sometimes revert to the age of three when playing with my youngest GC. Being a grandparent can be a great excuse to re-live your childhood.

I know both my daughter and daughter-in-law would endorse dragon60's tip, to let the parents catch up on much-needed sleep. And If you really work through her list of cleaning and cooking, you will certainly be entitled to 'make your own drink.' Wet the baby's head with a G and T?

But the winner is.... inishowen. Here is her post again: 'I'm going to be writing a book about our family, to give my grandchildren when they're older. This will be the greatest gift I can give. I'm so sorry that I didn't find out more about my gran's life before she died. So much family history lost.'

Thank you, inishowen. The royal baby's family will go down in history without much help from her (or his?) grandparents, but for the rest of us, it is, as you say, a great gift. Like you, I have a host of questions I wish I'd asked my grandparents when they were still around. But when I was a teenager I was too self-centred to be interested. Our grandchildren may greet descriptions of life 'our young days' with ill-concealed yawns right now, but, if it's in writing, our story will be there for them whenever they become interested."

Thank you to everyone who entered, and Jane for picking the winner. We've amalgamated all your lovely tips onto a page here.

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