Important Rules for Parent/Grandparent Transactions

Most readers of this column are probably parents of toddlers.  I am writing this to help you.  I know you are sometimes frustrated with people like me, in this case, a grandparent.   If there is a disagreement about how we handle your children, it is entirely your fault.  You have to take my word on this because I am an expert.  I have credentials.  My daughter Katie, chief honcho blogger and the mother of two toddlers, labeled me “The Modern Grandma” and gave me space to pontificate or, in some cases, ramble.

So there!    

Now that you know my deep background in the parent/grandparent field, I know that you will have confidence in my analysis of your problem.  To make it simple, I have established two, only two, rules to incorporate into your relationship with your parents.  Following them will make your life, their lives, and your children’s lives so much easier.

Here goes: 

1.  Grandma’s rules trump at grandma’s house.  Your rules trump at your house.
2. All other rules are subheadings of rule number one.

If you have questions or exceptions (silly, silly, silly!), refer to rule number one.    For those of you still having trouble with the concept, I offer real life examples:

Four-year-old Graham recently arrived at my house to spend the night.  Graham is no dummy.  His first words were, “Gwama  (still having trouble with his r’s), at my house I go to bed at zewo- seven-zewo-zewo, but at your house I get to stay up to zewo-eight-zewo-zewo or zewo-nine-zewo-zewo.”  This child clearly understands the rules.  He stayed up to zero-nine-zero-zero.   He also understands another grandma rule.  Vegetables sometimes have negative nutritional value.  If he eat too many, it gets in the way of the ice cream.  It’s just common sense!  The key here is to go with the flow, grandma’s flow.  This is how you, smarty pants parent, get to go out on date night without the kids.  Don’t mess this up.   Grandma’s rules work for everyone.   Katie gets it, right Katie?