Spendthrift Grandparents

According to an article I read recently,  grandparents are vying for grandchildren’s attention and spend at competing rates to “buy” attention.  Are you one of these?  Or are you a grandparent who brings simple pleasures and laughter to your grandchildren’s world?

Image: sxc.hu

In today’s society, do children feel grandparents only care for them if  buying the kids “things,” like electronic games, taking them to movies and attractions, or using restaurants with entertainment and toys in the meals?  If so, how do youngsters obtain these ideas?

Where have gone the days that grandparents and children worked and played together with simple activities.  I do mean “work.”  I recall sitting beside my grandmother snapping beans, peeling potatoes, shucking peas and listening to her stories.  We also sewed doll clothes together.  We wrote letters to family members and had tea and cookies in the afternoon.  Nanny’s gifts to us generally were handmade because she didn’t have much money.  I remember these occasions with fondness.

Of course, there were no electronics (except radio) to compete for Nanny’s attention.  If we were “bored,” there was always farm and housework to do.

Perhaps in these times of economic slowdown, grandparents won’t have so much to spend on grandchildren and will turn to simple pleasures once again!