Criticism

Sometimes 'too generous' should be taken as a compliment.

Hi Sevenup, can you provide a little more information?

I agree about fun times. That the best thing that grandparents have to offer - time. Time to listen, to read stories, to play endless games, to teach new things etc etc. That's what stays in GCs minds long afterwards. Sweets, toys etc not so much.

One of our grandchildren has four sets of grandparents. To say she is spoiled by them is an understatement.

We love indulging her but hope we spoil her with love rather than material things and her Mummy likes it that when she stays with us, the same rules as her home ones apply. The GC bring us so much pleasure though that we hope all their time spent with us is good, happy, and fun and will give them a memory store for when they are older and leading their own teenage lives.

We pull out all the stops to have fun times, much more so than when our own children were young. Being so busy as parents was all about parenting 24/7 whereas being a grandparent is so different, isn't it?

Who's doing the criticizing, as you say you also take treats for the parents?

We used to let the grandparents bring as many treats as they liked.

Kept the little blighters darlings happy.

Win Win!

I used to get told off for pulling 'a sympathetic face' when the kids got told off.

Think back to when yours were that age,would you have wanted your mother bringing treats or did you have your own rules in place?

I don't think so. Parents have to set boundaries so children know what's what. It's not fair of you to just decide to override them. Ask in advance if there's some sort of treat you could bring.