Did your relationship with your parents change after you became a parent? Mine certainly did.
We'd had our occasional clashes, my parents and I, especially during my turbulent teen years. But my mom and dad are wonderful parents, and they gave me one of the most valuable gifts parents can bestow upon their children -- the gift of knowing what it is to be loved, which is an important step in the road to loving someone else.
I don't think I fully appreciated this gift until I became a mother myself. I love my child with the whole heart and soul of my being, and when I see the way my parents adore my child I know that their gift of love and family is going to live on through him as well.
My son will tell you that Grandma and Grandpa show him how much they love him in lots of ways: the way Grandpa plays games with him, the amazing foods Grandma cooks for him whenever he asks for one of his favorite Korean dishes, the countless presents they give him for birthdays, holidays, or just because. But what he may not realize, maybe until he becomes a parent himself one day, is the precious gift of love that is the legacy from his grandparents.
This post is part of the About Parenting Channel's September blog carnival, hosted this month by Susan Adcox, our Guide to Grandparents.
Everyone talks about the joys of being a grandparent, but few mention the perk that you write about–the joy of having a different and closer relationship with children. Instead of being on opposite sides of the generational divide, grandparents and parents are united in loving a child.