Amazing Grandparents

By Debbie Shelton

My parents are the best grandparents in the world! They have been married for 37 years and have three children. They have seven grandchildren ranging in ages from newborn to 8 years.

My parents do not go more than a week without seeing the kids. They always come with open arms, big smiles and lots of hugs and kisses. They also are involved in their school fund-raisers. They collect things for their schools, so that they can raise money for playgrounds, field trips, etc. They call to congratulate them on a job well done during teacher conferences.

The neatest thing about them is they like to make sure that time is spent also individually. So one child gets to pick a weekend day with my parents to have them all to themselves, and they pick one thing that they want to do – whether it is bowling, a movie, shopping – and then they spend the night. When we all get together, it is a little chaotic, so they like to spend the individual time, so they can feel that they have given the same amount of attention to all the kids. All of the kids just love my parents! They are easy-going, fun-loving, comical and patient.

My dad, who is retired and works out of his home, volunteers to babysit whenever needed. We can always count on him for daytime errands. My mother, who works full-time, will call to see if we need to "get out," or if we are behind in laundry or just because they need a "Grandma and Grandpa fix." They just love to spend time with them. They are always willing to watch them when we go on weekend trips to get away. They are always willing to do anything to help out! What's really funny is they will call us to babysit if they think it has been too long since we have gone out. We usually take them up on the offer.

They do a great job nurturing boo-boos, playing, cooking with the kids – we couldn't ask for better grandparents! We thank God every day for them! They also attend their sport games as much as they can. I think they missed one baseball game last year. Amazing!

I have so many of our friends always telling us how lucky we are to have parents so involved in our kids' lives. They are a tremendous blessing to all of us. They have instilled good values and morals in us, which have been passed on to the kids and, proudly speaking, they are just good, caring, well-natured loving kids. I hope someday I can be half the grandparent that they are. They are truly one of a kind. Thank you for the chance to tell you about this amazing couple!