How often did you see your grandparents?

My maternal GM died very young, I have a photo of her holding my mum. Paternal GF died long before I was born, but we used to travel to visit his wife who lived with her youngest daughter & family. She always sat in the same chair by the fire.
My maternal GF lived in a 2 up 2 down terraced house in the north east. 6 of us lived there until we moved out. I recall him putting ‘baccy’ in his pipe, and wearing a pink hearing aid.
We have always been involved with our 2 grandsons, less so now that they are living in the UK.

I spent every Sunday with my grandparents for many years whilst growing up. It was peaceful and I could read my book all day. They lived 5 mins away so they were a big part of my life. I only had them as my paternal grandparents passed away before I was born.

My paternal grandparents never put a foot near me and sent all their children away to boarding school, my dad from age 7 till 15 in Switzerland. Horrors they were indeed! My maternal grandmother was like a mum to me. She looked after me very well while my mother (who was quite manipulative and nasty) worked. She was paid by my dad to do the housework and be there for me. I loved her very much and (despite her chain smoking Capstan full strength!) she lived until nearly 90. My maternal grandfather seemed OK although once he did stub out his cigarette on the palm of my hand!

One set if GPs had died before I was born. Remaining GM died when I was 3 and cannot recall her at all. GF died when I was 18 but I hardly saw him. At least I do remember what he looked like, old Boer War and WW1 soldier with obligatory mustache.

I only had one grandparent who was alive when i was born and I was lucky enough to have her living with us, she used to make cake with me on a Sunday morning and often took me to the cemetery to put flowers on my grandfather’s grave.
She was more of a mother to me than her daughter was

Usually once a year. We lived in Essex and both Mum & Dads remaining parents lived in Northumberland. Then when I was about 13 my paternal grandmother came to live with us for a while.

Used to be my dad’s parents on a Saturday and my mum’s for Sunday but my dad’s parents died before I was 12 and my mum’s before 15 my dads i would go visit all the time my mums mam couldn’t stand me before I was born so that love grew even stronger when I was born no relationship at all didn’t even go to her funeral

I had two and a half sets of grandparents…my maternal grandparents (although this grandad died when I was very young), my paternal grandmother (but this grandfather died when my dad was a boy so never knew him) and the next door neighbours for all our childhood and beyond who we called Nanna and Pop! I was scared of visiting my dad’s mother ……a little woman who was always dressed head to toe in black and her Victorian house was always dark and frightening to me, so I didn’t like visiting her very often. My maternal grandmother lived a bike ride away and I spent lots of time in her busy household when I was young …..I clearly remember she took me to see my first film at the Kinemar in Wanstead ….it was The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons ….i was totally mesmerized! I think I was about 8 or 9. But I spent so much time with Nanna and Pop next door as we had a gate cut into the back fence and I was always in their warm cosy house after school. After many many years they finally moved away to a beautiful thatched cottage their grown son bought them in the country in Old Harlow and I would always spend a week of my summer holidays staying with them ….collecting the eggs from the chicken coup with Pop and running through the back cornfields …...it was heaven!

My dad's mum was the only Grandparent alive when I was born
I remember an elderly lady , dressed in black sitting on a chair in the corner.
I was 4 when she died.
That is the only memory I have.

There was a split in my family which prevented my meeting my grandparents until I was 4 years old. My parents and granparents were completely different social classes because my mother had "married down".

Therafter I was taken to see my grandparents by an aunt on the second sunday of every month. My grandfather died when I was seven but I continued to see my grandmother regularly.

In those days (1950s) children were given a great deal more independence to go out on their own than is the case now. So I often told my parents I was going to play with X and sneaked off to my gran's house. When I was 11 I started secondary school which was near to where my grandmother lived. I used to make any excuse to go and see her, even telling my parents I had "sports practice" after school several nights a week. I hated sport!

I enjoyed visiting my grandmother although she was very strict about manners and deportment. I was never allowed to sit idle and always had to take some "mending" with me (any kind of sewing, embroidery etc). She always said that the "devil makes work for idle hands". She taught me how to crochet and embroider beautifully and to love antiques, art and craft.

Once I left school I visited my grandmother most weeks despite the disapproval of my parents. She always helped and supported me (financially) in my career choices. My greatest regret is that she was not there to see me graduate as a mature student. When I told her I was going to uni for 3 years she said. "I dont think Ill still be around then But wherever I am I will be watching you and I know you will make me proud."

In my mind's eye she was sitting there on the front row with the big wigs when I graduated. It was a bitter sweet day for me. My parents didnt bother to come.

Rarely. My parents both came from large families and as my parent moved away they were almost cast out. I was scared of my grandparents and never received a birthday card ever. They had too many grandchildren to remember all their birthdays. Which is why I try to best the Granny ever 🥰

My maternal grandfather died when my mother was nine months old, so obviously I never knew him. My maternal grandmother spent a month or month and a half with us every summer, as she lived in Denmark and we in Scotland. When she took to travelling by air, when I was five or six, she and my aunt came for Christmas as well for the next few years. She became too ill to travel when I was 12 and died the following year.

Daddy's parents visited once or twice a year for a week and we went to them sometimes f or week-ends, as they live in Fife and we in the Glasgow area.

Grannie and my mother were always polite to each other, but even as a small child I realised that they did not care much for each other. This was probably the reason I prefered Grandpa to Grannie.

Sad to say, they all died before I was 15.

The older I get, the more I actually remember of them, and realise that they all three influenced me in many ways.

One set once a year we went to Isle of Man for our holiday to see them. The other set two or three times we would visit them and they’d come to us too. I was 16 when one grandma died and Grandad came to live with us. Then he died when I was 24and sadly the other set died the same year following a car accident. So none met their great grand children.

My paternal gp died before I was born as did my maternal gf, but my granny lived until she was 20 days short of her 93 birthday. As my Dad died when I was young we were at Gran’s house most days and I moved in with her after my mum died. She was such a lovely person, who never felt old she was outlived several children. Even after I married I still visited home every other day, mainly to check up on her as she tried to do everything herself. I adored her and hope I’m half the granny to my DGD as she was to us.

My dad's dad went back to Australia and his mum died before I was born. My mum's grandparents lived near us and I saw a lot of them. When my grandfather died my grandmother lived even nearer - and ruled the roost! She was a tough soul but kind in her own way

Maybe once or twice a year. There were only grandmothers my paternal grandfather died in 1948 aged 82 and maternal grandfather in 1956 aged 75.
My grandmothers died when I was 21 and 22 just six weeks before I gave birth to what would have been the first great grandchild.

Had all three Grandparents until I was in my 30's. They all lived to good ages and loved them dearly especially my dad's mother who was widowed and ruined me and my sisters! Parents so strict with us it was marvellous to be indulged and spoilt! Saw them every week and then in later life they moved to the village my parents lived in and saw a lot more of them. Wonderful happy memories of them.
Grandchildren today don't seem to be interested in their grandparents somehow.

Both grandfathers died well before I was born. Both grandmothers had their children late (as did my parents) because of the war(s) so they were born in the 1880s or 90s and were very what was known as "senile" when I was growing up.

My maternal grandmother looked just like the one in the Giles cartoons and taught me to play cribbage (whilst chain smoking). She did come on holiday with us occasionally but I never really built up any kind of a relationship with her.

We moved away from London when I was 4 and didn't really have regular contact or visits with either of them.

According to my mother, her mother was really great fun when they were all younger and my mother and her four siblings had a really happy childhood in the 1920s. (The youngest of the five is still with us at 103 and fit as a fiddle.)

I am glad that I have been able to have a much closer rapport with my grandchildren and we enjoy cuddles and games together.

I used to see my paternal grandma a lot. I called her nanna. She used to babysit us 4 kids when we were little. We used to go and see her too, she was lovely. I used to see my paternal grandad in the pub on a Saturday afternoon, he and my nanna were divorced.
I’m a nanna to my grandchildren and they are lucky they have all their grandparents both sides of the family. I see them a least 4 times a week, and I absolutely love it, and I feel very lucky to see them a lot. They stay over with me at least once a month. What happens at nannas stays at nannas. 😂😂😂🤣

Both my grandads died when I was quite young but I spent lots of time with my maternal grandmother as my mum worked. I also saw my paternal
Grandmother everyday as she was our school cook while I was at primary school. I spent lots of overnights with my maternal grandmother and she eventually came to live with us. I don’t ever remember staying overnight with my paternal grandmother but I went there regularly with my dad. My mum hardly ever came with us as my grandmother didn’t like her.

Nannycrisp

I’m in a dilemma as to whether I should move closer to my only grandchild?

I’m currently a 3.5-4hr drive away and would love to be closer and to be a bigger part of their life. I would love to be a hands on grandma, to babysit, to take on day trips, to just be there.

Where I live I have a great circle of friends and both my sibling's live within a 10 mile radius, I enjoy my work as well as having a successful part time business.

I would also love the adventure of moving to a completely different area and also to have a bit of capital from the sale of our house to improve quality of life.

Has anyone else made this sort of decision and how did it work out, good or bad .

When I was widowed, I left my country home to live nearer the city where my son lives and works. (Couldn’t afford to live near my daughter in London.) He is now married with a baby. They spend a lot of their free time with her family, and I see them every six weeks on average. I have regrets about moving, but a lot depends, I think, on whether you are moving closer to a daughter than a son. Just the way it is.

I was lucky enough to live right next door to my maternal nan. I had a bedroom in each house and can honestly say I lived in both houses. I popped in and out several times a day, and stopping off for a cuppa and a marmalade sandwich on my way home from school was routine. She died when I was 16 and was my first major loss.

My adult children don't really bother with their granddad, which is a shame. I try to prompt them, especially as they only have one left and he's a good, kind man but they improve for a while then revert back to normal.

Only one alive when I was born she lived in midlands we lived in south east I saw her once a year for around 10 years until she passed away.

My maternal grandfather died when I was about 3, very hazy memories. My maternal grandmother came to visit us every Thursday, we didn’t go to visit her much because it was a long bus ride. Every Sunday we went to visit my paternal grandparents, who lived about a mile away. Never stayed overnight. They never babysat. In fact, I don’t remember my parents going out at night, unless it was to go to a wedding, when a neighbour’s daughter would look after me. We spent Summer holidays at a rented seaside house, my Mum’s mum came for the first week, the other grandparents came for the second.

On a sunday my dad went to play snooker while mum cooked dinner. We were left with our maternal grandmother who was a widow.
She was great fun but we just watched tv, read comics that she bought, ate lots of sweets (mum wasn’t pleased) and danced to records. Never took us out.
My maternal grandparernts were Irish and we spent many a summer on their farm. That was such an anazing experience as we lived in a city. Those grandparents were happy for us running wild outside. Again, great fun to be with.