You can’t slight one kid at the expense of the other. As parents of more than one in a brood, we know a bedrock tenet of lessening sibling rivalry manifests in the division of candy bars. Sure, the proposition of one grandchild cutting the candy bar and the other choosing which piece seems patently fair. But heaven help if either option is even a teeny bit off. Can’t you hear the cry? He got the bigger bite — not fair!
As grandparents, however, we often can’t stop giving, even to the point that grandkids cannot keep track of who got what and when. So, it’s a no-brainer to take one grandchild on a grandparent-grandchild trip of a lifetime for both of you, knowing that lifetime experience will be duplicated with the next grandchild in line. It’s just a matter of time before neither will be slighted.
My 13-year-old grandson, Noah, got that trip two summers ago when we went to an Arizona dude ranch to ride horses, cattle-sort, ride e-bikes, shoot guns, and rustle up a lot of food with other kids his age before putting our spurs to bed at night.
This past summer, my 10-year-old granddaughter Lucy’s desire was quite different. After spending a year reading the Harry Potter books, she could have cared less about riding horses, as dreams of riding a Nimbus 2000 broomstick would fulfill her every wish. So, this past summer was her equal opportunity trip to Universal Studios in Orlando to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter via a Road Scholar grandparent/grandchild adventure.
The Christmas before this trip, I got a note from Lucy that fulfilled her adventure wish, as did mine. The note read: “MERRY CHRISTMAS, GIGI. I know this is not much, but I hope this is enough for you.
Every year, I get you something that COSTS A LOT! This year, I wanted to make something homemade AND RAN OUT OF TIME! But yeah, love you, so here’s my gift- FREE DAY WITH LUCY (help u with anything).” I smiled.
That help began when we entered our hotel, and I let her wheel our bags into our room. That “help” carried us through our entire week of riding rides, playing quidditch, making butterbeer, exploring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, and going behind the scenes to see how Universal made the magic happen.
Maybe she was not helping me do the dishes (as she may have been implying in her note), but she was helping me to see this adventure through her childlike eyes.
Even when I closed my frightened eyes during the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, I could hear her screams of delight in chorus with the other grandkids in our group.
I saw the grins and watched the high-fives as these kids bonded in pure joy and as grandparents beamed with pure delight (and maybe a few queasy stomachs) during the Rip Ride Rocket. But not wanting to ride that roller coaster again was worth the price of doing it once with my grandchild next to me, holding my hand.
Not everything was smooth sailing, I must admit. My peanut of a grandchild wasn’t as tall as most other kids, so her lack of height made her sit out a few rides. The result was sometimes tears, but the other kids rallied around to make her the star player of Marco Polo in the pool or the go-to teammate during a quidditch match.
She felt the support of real Rons, Hemiones, and Harrys, regardless of whether each was sorted into separate houses of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Being around other grandparents and grandkids with a heart enriches the relationship I can have with my own. Did either of us feel slighted? I think not.
As grandparents, however, we often can’t stop giving, even to the point that grandkids cannot keep track of who got what and when.
I’m not sure another amusement park is in my future, but walking close to 20,000 steps a day with my grandkids always will be.
When Lucy surprised me at the end of the week with the plastic Oscar trophy — World’s Greatest Grandma — she renewed my life more than I helped to continue hers. As grandparents, we have so much to give when we take the free days our grandkids offer us.
That’s an offer worth its weight in gold, a trophy not included…nor needed.
