The birth of their grandchild will often cause a retiree, or a retired couple, to visit frequently. That’s because grandparents generally want to remain an important part of their grandchild’s life.
The birth of their grandchild will often cause a retiree, or a retired couple, to visit frequently. That’s because grandparents generally want to remain an important part of their grandchild’s life.
While I know this intellectually, I haven’t yet experienced it emotionally. That is, not quite yet. However, in early August, Wendy and I will become grandparents. Our son Larry and his wife, Krista, will then have their first child. And, as you’d imagine, we’re super-excited. As we live in Central Oregon and they live in Southern California, we figure to drive south yet more often.
From observing our friends and relatives who are grandparents, we know that grandparenthood comes complete with frequent visits. Understandably, grandparents want to “watch the child grow up.” After all, a very young child grows both physically and intellectually so very quickly. Just a few weeks can mean a whole lot of change. And so, the retired couple will “get back there often.”
My cousin Rochelle lives in Nevada and travels to Virginia every six weeks to visit her grandkids. Two couples we know, living on the West Coast, spend weeks at a time visiting grandkids elsewhere in the country. Another couple, also friends of ours, spends three or four months at a time visiting their kids and grandkids in Christchurch, New Zealand.
And check this out… upon retirement, one couple moved from Southern California to Central Oregon. Planning to farm alfalfa, they purchased forty acres and put up fences and an irrigation system. They were in the process of building a barn when they learned that their daughter, back in Southern California, was pregnant with twins. They promptly sold their forty acre farm and moved back to Southern California.
While this seems kind of an extreme adjustment, well I don’t know… as I said, I understand about the arrival of grandkids on an intellectual level, but not quite yet on an emotional level. We’ll see what it’s like when little Baby B arrives in August. I’ll let you know.
Hey, are you a grandparent? And if so, how did your life change when your first grandkid arrived? Did you feel the need to visit more often?
