On Saturday, May 25th, there will be an open house celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of my paternal grandparents, and my grandfather's 80th birthday. I owe a lot of my grandparents, both sets of them, for support I've received over the years. I pretty much lived with the Dahlsads for the first 5 years of my life, because my family shared the family homestead with them until Grandpa retired from farming, and they let me live in their basement for my first two years of college. This is why I try to promote contact between Destiny and my grandparents, her great-grandparents -- I knew this long before any studies were performed, just from my personal experience: intergenerational contact is very important to children. Doesn't have to be grandparents, but they're the handiest for me & Destiny. When I go to class every Tuesday, my maternal & paternal grandparents alternate weeks watching Destiny. She looks forward to it, and she always has a lot of fun with them. Both sets of grandparents have told me that they love having Destiny over, and they are genuinely pleased to see her. When they talk about Destiny, there isn't a trace of "we're doing this to help you" in their voice - they are truly thankful to me for letting them have the opportunity to see her. Destiny's grandparents, my parents, feel the same way, and I try to do all that I can to help them have contact with Des, despite the distance. Destiny has never objected to being left with the older generation; she may get a little quirky before her mom's visitation, but when I drop her off at any of the grandma & grandpa's, she's like "thanks, bye, see ya!"

You might look at this and say, well, Destiny is just a good kid and would be fun for anyone. I think it's the other way around. Because she has developed close & healthy relationships with a variety of generations & ages, she has a healthier personality than if she spent a lot of time here at home, or only with children her own age.

I find that, when I thnk about it, Having my great grandmother accessable was very good for me. Also children raised like that have a broader view fo things because of their contact w/ people of multiple generations. The expirences and perspectives that Des shares with her great grand parents, will make the window thruwich she views the world that much bigger. I regret very much that my children will not have much access to their grandparents, let alone mine.

--Sparky, 4/22/2002 00:53:34