Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

that's what we all think of you.....

At least I hope so now that I am one.

A little boy, an ounce under 8 lbs, and as yet, in true Clint Eastwood fashion, The Baby With No Name.

My congratulations, Michael. Being a grand-parent is far better than being a parent, and I'm sure you'll love it.

I knew increasing age was rapidly approaching, when my eldest grand-daughter of 21 announced her engagement for the summer of next year !

Congratulations. My mother always said that the good thing about being a grandparent is that you can have all the fun without the responsibility - and when you have had enough you can hand them back!! It helps if you start early, while you still have the energy to keep up with them - I was past 60 when my first grandchild was born.

Just got back from the UK where we stayed with my son and 2 ½ year old grandson.
Yesterday, we connected on Skype, and the first thing my grandson said when he saw my wife was, "Pick me up!!"
Guess who gets spoiled by his grandparents?
We also saw him stand in the middle of the room, legs apart, saying "pee pee".
Not quite got the hang of the idea that his parents want him to say that as a warning, not as a done thing.

jhopgood wrote:Just got back from the UK where we stayed with my son and 2 ½ year old grandson.
Yesterday, we connected on Skype, and the first thing my grandson said when he saw my wife was, "Pick me up!!"
Guess who gets spoiled by his grandparents?
We also saw him stand in the middle of the room, legs apart, saying "pee pee".
Not quite got the hang of the idea that his parents want him to say that as a warning, not as a done thing.

Priceless, John !

Grandchildren by Skype - we know all about that, having two in Finland. We don't see them very often 'in the flesh', but at least they know who we are! It will get really interesting when they learn to make Skype calls on their own - not for a while yet though - they are 3 and 6. This summer they will be over here for a month - it will be interesting to see the younger two together and compare notes - there is a four-month age gap, and at the moment it looks as though the younger girl in England is slightly ahead of the older boy in Finland in the potty training stakes. On the other hand he draws in great detail while she is still scribbling; he is car mad and she is book mad. It should be an interesting summer. There is a snag to long-distance grandparenthood in that when we do see them it is not just for the occasional day or weekend, it is usually for several weeks non-stop which can be quite a strain on the aging grandparents!!

Fjgrogan wrote:Grandchildren by Skype - we know all about that, having two in Finland. We don't see them very often 'in the flesh', but at least they know who we are! It will get really interesting when they learn to make Skype calls on their own - not for a while yet though - they are 3 and 6. This summer they will be over here for a month - it will be interesting to see the younger two together and compare notes - there is a four-month age gap, and at the moment it looks as though the younger girl in England is slightly ahead of the older boy in Finland in the potty training stakes. On the other hand he draws in great detail while she is still scribbling; he is car mad and she is book mad. It should be an interesting summer. There is a snag to long-distance grandparenthood in that when we do see them it is not just for the occasional day or weekend, it is usually for several weeks non-stop which can be quite a strain on the aging grandparents!!

I sympathise with your thoughts on long-distance grandparenthood.
The older two (8 and 6) live in Lulea, Sweden and speak Swedish and understand Spanish, although they don't like to use it.
The younger (2 ½) lives in Guildford, understands French (from his mother), Spanish from his father, and English from the play school. We just about understand him.
We all spent last week in Guildford, visiting Legoland, London Zoo, Birdworld etc. The kids played together, as they had last year in Lulea, but I have no idea what language they used, as adults were only required to sort out disagreements. Normally the younger one won, but then he had home advantage.
We came back to Spain for a rest.
We hope to get together once a year, so it will be interesting to see what language they all use in the future. I have a feeling it might be English.

At least your grandchildren all speak languages which you might manage yourselves! Maria moved to Finland when her eldest was 17 months and was just starting to speak understandable English, but had never heard any Finnish. She quickly became bilingual, and when her younger brother was born in Finland he accepted both languages from the start. I looked forward to finding out which language they would choose to use between themselves. I found out last year when I visited - I was sleeping on the sofabed in the living room and the children were usually up before I was, so I listened to them chattering in Finnish each morning. But as soon as they realised I was awake they instantly switched to English. Finnish is not a language that one picks up easily 'by ear', and the children are well aware of who understands which language and they switch accordingly, unless they are deliberately wanting to be 'private'. It wouldn't surprise me at all if their English cousin picked up some Finnish phrases this summer - she already knows 'Kippis' (cheers)!

Thank you all for your congratulations.

He is 3 weeks old today and no longer in Clint Eastwood mode! They have named him Jonah Andrew.

Belated congratulations Michael. We have five grandchildren 4 girls and a boy. The eldest is 13 going on 23 next month. Enjoy your grandson and take the opportunity to enjoy with him some of the things you missed with your kids. All the best.

Just spent 3 days looking after 2 of grandchildren(4 and 2) in london, First time for longer than an evening! They were amazingly co-operative and we had a great (tho' exhausting) time! Thank goodness it stayed dry so we got to Clapham Common one day and Battersea Park the next...Son and wife had a lovely work social weekend in France too, so Grandparent duty all worth it.

Yesterday we took Millie (2 going on 12) to the theatre in Kingston to see Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales. She loved it - she is a great fan of all the Julia Donaldson books, and is already a seasoned theatregoer (her Mum is a theatre manager in Chatham). However I think the greater adventure was travelling there and back on a bus - like many children these days she goes everywhere by car!

Mid A 15 wrote:that's what we all think of you.....

At least I hope so now that I am one.

A little boy, an ounce under 8 lbs, and as yet, in true Clint Eastwood fashion, The Baby With No Name.

Congratulations Andy! And please accept my apologies for being over a month late. You'll love being a grandparent, it's the best of both worlds!