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Hands on grannies versus occasional grandmothers

(14 Posts)
jinglbellsfrocks Tue 28-Jan-14 19:06:49

grin

Ana Tue 28-Jan-14 19:01:34

They'll certainly get breathless! grin

jinglbellsfrocks Tue 28-Jan-14 19:01:33

Breathlessness???!!! Where did that come from? Greatgrannies! hmm #sfire

jinglbellsfrocks Tue 28-Jan-14 18:59:52

I quite agree Pauline65. I think they will both be very good grannies/breathlessness in their own way.

I think the Queen and Phillip were hands on parents. I have read they always tried to do bathtimes themselves.

Pauline65 Tue 28-Jan-14 18:19:50

I think George will have a very normal life with his 'hands on Granny' and William and Kate will both be delighted with that. Diana if she was still would have wanted to do her bit as well. She was a good Mum and would have wanted her first and all those yet to be born to have as normal a life as is possible as she did for her boys.
Let's let each Granny and great Granny do it their own way.

FlicketyB Wed 22-Jan-14 15:45:32

What kind of grandmother any individual is, is a function of circumstances, age and choice.

We live 200 miles from DGC and still have very busy lives with other time commitments. I will clear the decks and respond to an emergency and we usual provide cover at half term and holidays, but I am quite glad to have the distance because otherwise we would be in competition with the other grandma who lives close buy and is like a third parent. I wouldn't want to be that hands on anyway.

At the end of the day it just shows the Royals are just like us, how they grandparent is dependent on other commitments and preference.

rosesarered Tue 21-Jan-14 20:22:54

'Royals' sell papers, it's that simple.Wish it wasn't but it is.

margaretm74 Tue 21-Jan-14 19:12:16

I agree merlotgran!

merlotgran Tue 21-Jan-14 18:48:28

I think Camilla is a hands on grandmother with her own grandchildren. That's one of the reasons she wanted to keep her own house in Gloucestershire. It's been reported that Prince Charles is not so keen on small children but as Prince George is his first grandchild how can anyone know?

Articles like this are daft. Can you imagine the power struggle if Diana were still alive?

Aka Tue 21-Jan-14 18:33:44

Agree with all the above. The newspapers print puerile rubbish, don't they?

margaretm74 Tue 21-Jan-14 18:03:14

I've seen criticism of Carole Middleton which implied that she could have "too much influence" regarding George's upbringing, which I thought was very unfair. As far as she's concerned, he may be a Prince of the Realm, but he's her first grandchild (very exciting) and her beloved daughter's baby and the Middletons will bring some much-needed normality into his life. I think each one will bring a different aspect of "grannying" to his life - Great Granny the Queen (who seems to adore her own grandchildren and, at the age of 87, has been teaching Princess Louise to ride), Granny Carole and also Step-Granny Camilla.

BAnanas Tue 21-Jan-14 17:33:32

To be fair to the Queen, she is of course the Great Grandmother, and although as rosesarered said she wasn't a hands on mother, she's hardly going to crawl around the floor and play with trains and building bricks in her mid eighties, Carole Middleton is still young enough to do that and I bet Diana would have been pretty "hands on" as well if she were still here.

rosesarered Tue 21-Jan-14 17:24:54

The Queen wasn't even a hands on Mother, so she isn't about to start now!

Pauline65 Tue 21-Jan-14 17:06:48

I read an article this weekend in the Sunday Times contrasting the Queen as a grandmother compared with the Duchess of Cambridge's mother who it said was very much a hands on granny. The mistake they made was not mentioning when discussing Kate and William's baby, George, was that the Queen is a Great Grandmother to him whereas Carole Middleton is a first time granny. The Queen is a completely different generation from Carole and her behaviour will be completely different from the Queens. I think it is great for Kate to have her mother sharing so much with her and with William especially if she is available to travel when the Duke and Duchess go on official visits. They are very lucky but no two grannies will be the same and so shouldn't be judged as failing grannies because they are not as available as others.