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Blogs by Donelle Knudsen
Grandparents 4/3/2011 10:31:20 AM
Grandparents and grandkids are like peanut butter and jam on bread: the perfect combination. To a child, nothing compares to spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. I was one of the lucky ones who had two sets of grandparents living just blocks away. Nothing beats staying overnight with grandparents. They often will extend your bedtime and let you skip naps. They own a bottomless cookie jar and take you to the park, circus, zoo, or even the movies.
My grandma let me roll out dough for pies and cookies, and of course we taste tested everything. Grandma Pink and I made wind chimes out of inverted flower pots, wove rugs and placemats from scraps of material, collected unusual buttons and old Christmas cards, and visited the library. When I was sick she'd read me fairy tales and put a cool washcloth on my sweaty forehead.
Granddad bought me a sled and helped me pull it up the hill on 59th street so I could whoosh down at breakneck speed. He made the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and introduced me to chocolate éclairs. I learned to play the piano on Granddad's old Steinway, but he chided me when I recklessly spun around on its claw foot piano stool. He made sure I always wiped my feet at the door, made my bed, and put my dirty dishes in the sink. Many valuable life lessons were learned at Granddad's.
All these years later, I reminisce on times spent with my grandparents, both my Mom's and Dad's. It was an innocent, carefree time for play, instruction, and even inspiration. They directly and indirectly provided insight into my parents' personalities and the era they grew up in: the depression. My grandparents also supplied many words of wisdom acquired from decades of life’s experiences.
It was all good stuff, important stuff; and now that I'm a grandma I have the chance to do the same for my grandchildren. I hope I do half as well as my grandparents did for me.
