Several nights ago we had the pleasure of having grandson Dylan for an overnight at our house. It is so much fun being grandparents…we can almost always do the fun stuff with the grandchildren whereas the parents often have to be the “tough” ones with lots of rules/discipline etc.
So, what did our night consist of? Playing with our dog outside, bringing dinner in, going out for ice cream after dinner, playing with puzzles and other games, watching a Netflix children’s show in bed and then the earlier promised “sneaking downstairs” late at night (1030PM) for a snack.
I do believe that almost every grandparent will tend to “nurture” their grandchildren with food items. Whether it be a trip to Dairy Queen as we did, or the baking of cookies, or the making of Smore’s …these and many more activities revolve around providing lots of not very healthy food and snack items to the people we love most in the world.
We kind of did/do the same thing as parents. The family trip to McDonald’s for “Happy Meals”, the home production of brownies/high caloric desserts, popcorn for the family while watching a show and many more “nurturing” activities based on high-caloric, not-healthy food items.
The nurturing we provide via food/snack items is almost instinctual and most certainly something that is handed down from generation to generation. We were nurtured/rewarded with high caloric food/snack items by our grandparents and parents, and then we do the same to our “next generations”.
More time on puzzles, walks in the park and swimming in the pool and less time at Dairy Queen, making desserts and sneaking downstairs for snacks will translate to better health for our children, grandchildren and yes, “us”.
Let’s all learn to “nurture” our loved ones in ways other than empty calories.
