Happiness is being a Grandparent

Due to the holiday, Greenleigh and Hazeline got tons of “Grandma Time” this past week.  Grandma Time is special time where Greenleigh can do no wrong (Hazeline is still too little to make full use of Grandma Time, but I have no doubt she will catch up for lost time soon enough).  It doesn’t matter what Greenleigh does, Grandma can find the perfect excuse for her behavior.  Need examples?  I’ve got tons of them.  Greenleigh doesn’t want to sit at the table for dinner?  That’s okay, she’s just a free spirit who can’t be confined in such a manner.  Greenleigh steps on the cat (quite possibly on purpose)?  Clearly, the cat was in the way.  Definitely the cat’s fault, couldn’t possibly be Greenleigh’s.  Greenleigh leaves her toys out all over the place?  Obviously she’s redecorating her own space.  How dare we squelch her artistic tendencies.

Unfortunately, while Greenleigh can do no wrong according to Grandma, our lives continue on, and we must try to be consistent with discipline.  We can’t let her get away with not sitting at the dinner table, stepping on the cat, or not picking up her toys.  It’s just too slippery of a slope with her right now.  So we continue time outs, even with company in town.

On Tuesday night as Greenleigh sat screeching in time out, Erajh’s parents plead her case.  Maybe she was tired, they suggested.  Maybe she was hungry.  Maybe she was not feeling well.  Nope, pretty sure she’s just being 2 years old and in need of a time out.    They said Greenleigh needs fewer time outs.  Of course, this is not much different from when my mother was in town over the summer and told me it made her “so sad” that Greenleigh had to get time outs.

Okay, I understand where they are coming from, but do they not remember how strict they were with us?  My mom didn’t do time outs, she spanked us.  Same with Erajh’s mom.  Have they totally forgot the discipline that was handed out back then?  Hell, I used to get in trouble for things I didn’t even do, but things my mom thought I was considering doing.  Oh how quickly they forget…

So where are those stern disciplinarians now?  Putty in this little girl’s hands.

My grandparents used to have a license plate frame that said, “Happiness is being a Grandparent”.  I never really knew what that meant.   Now I know that it means loading the grandkids up on sugar, promises of ponies or whatever else their heart desires, and hours of time where they can do no wrong…only for them to be handed back to us in their sugar and power crazed state.