The Perks of Being a Grandma

The Best Things About Being a Grandma

The best things about being a grandma depend on who you ask. For some, it's time spent with grandkids at home, while others like taking them out. Playing games, baking, or even watching a movie together can spark joy.

I asked some girlfriends, who have grandkids of all ages, what they love most about being a grandma. Let's take a look at their answers:

17 Reasons Why Being a Grandma is the Best

1. When the grandkids come over for a play-date. I get to have fun with them all day, and then their parents pick them up and bring them home.
2. Going to their football and basketball games and being able to cheer them on, loudly!
3. Getting Picasso-like artwork to put on my refrigerator and showing it off to anyone who comes over, including the appliance repair guy.
4. Receiving the purest love that exists on Earth.
5. The funny things they do, like when my granddaughter packed a suitcase, went out the window and up the street without telling anyone she was running away from home. It was completely reminiscent of when her mom was the same age. I almost had a heart attack!
6. Spoiling them, even now that they’re older. They love it and I love it and we create some awesome memories.
7. Being able to sing off-key with them clapping their hands and thinking I have a great voice.
8. Learning from them. They’ve taught me how to do more with the computer than answer emails. Now I can navigate the internet, find websites I’m interested in, and read books and magazines online. Next, they’re going to teach me how to pay bills and do my banking online.
9. Taking my grandkids to museums, Broadway shows, and Disney World and watching their eyes light up.
10. Not having to worry about their homework, or having them forget to tell you about projects that are due the next day. There are no more last-minute trips to the craft store and staying up ridiculously late to make sure the work is done.
11. How they make me feel young again. We run and jump around the backyard, play hide and seek, and build pillow forts together.
12. The look of excitement they have when I pick them up for a day out and they don’t know where we’re going; they just want to be with me.
13. When my grandson said, “Grandma, this is the best day of my whole life," after we’d been to Discovery Place and were headed to Target to get a treat.
14. Baking cookies and making gingerbread houses, and then eating them before dinner!
15. Sharing their innocence and becoming innocent again, even if it’s just for a short while.
16. Being their confidante and letting them know I won’t say anything to anyone about what they’ve shared with me.
17. Doing the things with them that I wasn’t able to do with my kids because I worked and there was just never enough time.

Cherishing Every Moment

To me, the greatest thing about being a grandma is the absolute unadulterated, unfettered, pure love my grandkids give me. I can never get enough of their hugs and kisses, and no matter how I feel when I’m with them, a smile magically appears on my lips.

Having grandkids, and having the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them, has also given me the chance to do some things differently with them than I did with their moms, and maybe, just maybe, do them better.

I no longer have a rigid work schedule so I can spend time with them when it’s important to them. When my girls were young, I was hardly ever able to get to their plays during the day or to their after school sports activities. I feel like I missed a lot of their growing up because of it. With my grandkids, I won’t miss any of those things.

Until I had grandkids, I had forgotten how wondrous a worm is, or how to explain rain or where flowers come from or the magic of a rainbow. Seeing the world through their eyes is not only an adventure, it’s giving me a good education! I’ve even learned the difference between a backhoe and a loader.

When I see one of the boys discover something for the first time – like when Cash took his first step, which completely surprised both of us, or when Ethan started drinking out of a straw, or when they figured out 2 fingers plus 2 fingers equaled four fingers – we both end up squealing with joy!

I don’t think I’ll ever take anything for granted again. And if I do, I’m pretty sure one of my grandkids will do something that will jolt me out of that rut.

I am in awe of how a young mind learns and figures things out. How my grandkids can be so literal and absolutely sure of whatever it is they’re saying.

Those are the times that give me a renewed appreciation of a child’s innate inquisitive nature, how they appreciate the smallest things and how wonderful it is to be a grandparent to share those times.

I love being a grandma.