christmas with 2 sets of grandparents what is fair

Hi personally I think the most magical time at Christmas with children there is when they open their presents from santa in the morning. Even though your grandchild is still young why not start a family tradition now where you have them come to you - if not overnight on xmas eve, then arrive early for Christmas breakfast? This way they can spend the whole morning with you and open the presents that 'santa' left at your house before leaving mid afternoon for lunch at 3 pm at the other grandparents house?

My strong suspicion is that all that there is to say on this topic has been said!

Doesn't really matter, as the original poster has either taken offence or lost interest, it seems.

We're so naughty! Sorry. [contrite emoticon]

Help I've started major digression! this is supposed to be a thread about both sets of grandparents wanting Christmas day with grandchild/children.

gracesmum8 and *G23 - we were all at Scottish schools. Is that significant?

The sewing teacher, who looked about 90 and wore her hair in plaits round her ears (Princess Leia but silver) was known as Auntie Lucy.

Gracesmum I also had a Mrs Farrell for maths in a Scottish Academy but do not recognise your other nicknames. We had a maths teacher called Benjamin Milne - very tall and thin, known universally as Big Ben, as was his father, who taught my mother maths in the same school, before him. We also had a 'Poor Old Joe (French) his room had a neatly made plaque on the door which read Chez Joe ; Senex (Latin of course) and the other Latin teacher Miss Rodger, known to one and all as 'Jolly' in her room there was a skull and cross bones flag on the window cords which we raised and lowered at the start and end of class while someone made that pipe noise and we all stood to attention. It was fluttering away gaily one day when an inspector arrived unexpectedly in class - Jolly engaged him in examining the fancy new revolving blackboard - while one of the boys whipped it down and hid it.

Can't resist repeating, while we are on the subject of nicknames, a story (allegedly true) of a very posh visiting Sheriff at Paisley Sheriff Court who required the services of an interpreter to understand statements from the accused and witnesses. When someone in the dock, invited to describe what had led up to the crime said ' Ah cam stottin oot o the Caley Bingo and dodged in tae get Chips and Ginger', the Sheriff stopped him in his tracks demanding to know the full name of the Chaps, referred to as Chips and Ginger and also the make of the vehicle referred to as a Caley Bingo because he had never heard of such a thing.

[sorry what was this thread about???)

Our Biology teacher was an undersized man called Small - no nickname needed! The tall Latin teacher was known as Lofty - as I said we were not very inventive!

A geography teacher by the name of Parker was, of course, Nosy - and the sad thing is that he did indeed have a huge nose.

I'm sure "Fruity" went somewhere like Eton, strangely they never seem to be embarrassed by their nicknames at posh schools! However, back at the my son's local comp he had a friend nicknamed "Bomber" something to do with smelly emissions I gather, or which I believe he was quite proud!

I had a girl in my class with the surname of Gally, she was of course referred to as ship's kitchen and a form teacher called Mrs Head was always known as foot, oh how banal it all was! annodomini if your Mr Dick was teaching now he would no doubt be Dickhead! and as for Pussy I don't think we should even go there!

Fruity Metcalfe sounds like something out of PG Wodehouse. One of my French teachers was Big Bertha and another who never had the pleasure of teaching me was Keyhole Kate (was that the Dandy or the Beano?). Mr Dick the maths teacher was, of course, Moby and my English teacher was Pussy - remember this was in a more innocent age.

"Fruity" Metcalfe is a reminder of how popular nicknames used to be and how they continued to be used in adult life. I wonder why "Fruity" ?- hope it wasn't because he was smelly? Schoolboys all used to have nicknames didn't they as did teachers. Ours (that I remember) were not particularly inventive, but it was a Scottish High School whereas I expect Fruity Metcalfe and his contemporaries went to Eton! There was Faulky - Mr Faulkner, the physics teacher, Geordie, George somebody an English teacher, Randy, Randal Phillips the German teacher (who had a bit of a predilection for boys it transpired later) Luce or Lucifer was Mr Stirrat, Head of English and for reasons I never understood, Sood - Miss Farrell the Maths teacher. I am sure there were others whom I have forgotten, perhaps just as well.

strange, our s on in law had to speak to his mother daily!! If my son rang me daily I would keel over and worry also that he was well!!

I would not want that sort of neediness.

Having said that my daughter and i texted or rang most days, which makes it double poignant wonder who is taking my place??

I am lucky indeed if our son rings us once week and I try not to keep ringing him as they have their own lives and that is as it should be.

Gosh if only we had that worry about which grand parents, as far as our little grand daughters must know there are only one set and sadly not us.

ghost wrote her book, my English aint that good gracesmum! I quite like Hugh too, and agree about the haircuts, the 1970s retro hippie thing wasn't a good look. Believe me when I say I'm not Hugh's mum, my boys went to the local comp not Eton, and in spite of my youngest having a good degree, he still occasionally says "fink and firty" for think and thirty, don't think you'd hear Hugh's lovely modulated tones making such ghastly lapses! I haven't read his mater's Good Granny Guide, but will pop into Waterstones and see if I can't have a sneaky look at it. Oh and another thing, I don't have a double barreled surname, or at least I didn't the last time I signed my name! What a lovely overstuffed mouthful Fearnley-Whittingstall is, sounds like something straight out of the 1930s, reminds me of a documentary I was watching about Edward VIII when it was revealed that he nabbed a friend's wife, the friend went by the sublime name of "fruity Metcalfe"

Well you might be glad of the first 3 (although I quite like him now that he has had the occasional haircut!) and shame about the income. But I still think I have outed you!! Maybe you "ghost wrote" the book for her?

gracesmum I wish! Neither of my sons' cook, look or talk like Hugh, or for that matter, have, what I imagine to be his sizable income!

BAnanas - I have sussed you. You are Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall whose "Good Granny Guide "I pore over just about daily and my role model !!

Yes it annodomini it is indeed pathetic, I rang my mother every day when she was a widow and old and frail, but before that it would have been once a week even though we had a close relationship.

Isn't that pathetic, BAnanas! Even my mother wasn't like that, though I did feel more comfortable with 4000 miles between us.

JessM thank you. Time will tell regarding my opposite number I do know that she has produced two very needy and dependent daughters, my grandchild's mother thinks nothing of having up to 20 telephone conversations a days with her. My son had to explain to her that just because my husband and I don't phone our children daily, more like twice weekly, we do actually still love them, as she actually said to him once I don't think your parents love you because they don't phone you that often. She doesn't understand it's not a parents place to micro manage their childrens' lives once they are adults.

Hey, I can see some blue sky.

Yes, we're not usually that pernickety!

You can tell that it was raining and we did not have anything better to do.