I can’t get over the impact that my parents are having on my kids. My parents are the best grandparents that I could dream of for my kids. Riley has a speech delay. He can say far fewer words than he should be able to say right now. One of them is Nana. And he says it with great enthusiasm. When I ask if they want to go to Nana and Granddad’s they scream with excitement and Riley starts jumping up and down and kind of panting like a dog.

My mom and Maddie seem to have a special bond. They do all sorts of things together that I either don’t know how to do, am too busy to do or don’t think of doing with her. They plant flowers together, clean together, cook together, learn about Ostrich eggs together, feed ducks together, make scrambled eggs from an Ostrich egg together, play on the computer together, fill bird feeders together. One day when we were on a walk Maddie pointed to a bush and said “you know the rain smell, well it comes from that bush”. She learned that from my mom.

Riley has a special bond with my dad. Riley thinks he’s the best thing ever. He plays games with both my kids, makes them laugh and scream, reads them stories, watches movies with them, takes them to the dollar store, comes to watch Maddie’s swim lessons, takes them on walks.

Jake and I do lots of these things with our kids too. But the way grandparents can be with the kiddos just seems different than the parents. They seem to love differently, maybe a little more patiently. Not all kids are as lucky, some grandparents just don’t do the job as well as others. I’m so thankful that my kids get to experience the full on wonderful relationship of Granddad and Nana.