Grandparents Detox

I don't get it.

The key word in Grandparents is GRAND. Yet, for some reason as soon as we (their kids) have kids, these people seem to suddenly lose all sense of the second half of the word - PARENT.

How is it that almost overnight these people, who have years of dealing with and handling children of all ages, appear to be clueless about nap times, night time, food, sugar, clothes spankings, and more.

Most of us recall our parents saying "Just you wait until you have kids!". I guess this is all part of their master, GRAND plan. Spoil the grandchild and you repay your child.

Oh how I wish I would have never missed my curfew, or maintained straight As, never talked back and avoided the troubles I put them through. Maybe then when my two year olds come back for a few days with the Gparents, I would not feel their wrath.

As a friend recently called it....this is Grandparents Detox.

Kids that once new when nigh-night time was. Kids that once knew that you could not eat cookies before dinner. Kids that once knew watching Leno as a toddler was out of the question. Kids that once knew screaming and kicking would get you nowhere. These kids have to be retrained each and every time.

Suddenly all rules are gone, all sense of rational parenting has disappeared and we are left with 3 days of withdrawl and pain.

In the end, it makes you realize just how smart our parents have always been. The older I get the more I come to grips with the reality that mom and dad truly are smarter than anyone I know.

Now our kids are their bank and the withdraws we made for years are all being returned, one weekend at the GrandParents at a time.

This is Grandparents Detox. Enjoy.