Gramping with the family.

We went away on holiday earlier this month, just our two selves, nobody else to please, nobody else to consider, nobody else to fit into the plan. Family holidays and extended family holidays can be totally different. Feel free and read about what you can inspire too when yours have all grown and flown.

 When our own children were young we often went on holiday to a caravan, nowhere exciting, back in the days when life was much simpler than it is now. It was nice to get away, to have no set routine, no having to be at work/school at a certain time, no having to be back for a set time. We got up when we wanted, the children went to bed when they were tired, and in between time the days were filled with board games, ball games, playing in a river and generally just enjoying each others company.

 Don't get me wrong it was not always as peaceful and idyllic as this makes it sound, the older two girls were four and five years older than the two boy, who in turn were four and five years older than the younger daughter, and no matter what you did if it was activity oriented you could not please everybody. But by the same token having the older girls was also a help as we could split up if we were going to do some things and try and please more of them as much as we could.

picture courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

Now there are three generations of us and I have to say the grandchildren are not really into quiet board game type holidays. They like to go to organised sites that have all the entertainment on tap. That has activities geared to each age group, that have clubs designed to keep them entertained. They want to swim, and cycle and be on the go from morning to night. Children these days are so use to leading a hectic life with after school this and before school that and really are not much good at amusing themselves. This is a great way of interacting with your grandchildren and joining in with what they enjoy.

I as a grandparent find trying to keep up with them exhausting, but  it does make life easier when there are plenty of cheap October breaks online. We are very fortunate as grandparents and live a two minute walk away from the grandchildren, but for many families this is not the case and maybe an extended holiday is one of the few ways they get to enjoy time with their grandchildren.

 "Gramping" in the U.K. is a growing trend for the modern generation. Grandparents are becoming essential to the smooth running of many working parents lives, and this really is just an extension of that. 

How do you feel, would you go away with three generations? Whether your a parent or a grandparent is this your idea of heaven or hell? Let me know what you think.