Our dear grandparent friends whispered that they bought Florida Prepaid College Plans for each of their grandchildren upon each baby’s birth.
Our grandparent cousins whispered that they funded 529 plans for their grandchildren’s college educations.
Our grandparent neighbors whispered that they pay for private preschool for their grandchildren.
Our long (we never say old) grandparent friends whispered that they pay for private lessons for their grandchildren.
We whispered too. But, if you read this Grandma’s blog for any length of time , it becomes very public how Grandpa and I share with you how we try to make our grandchildren’s lives better and provide experiences and exposure to improve their intelligence and educational opportunities to enhance their lives.
We grandparents should whisper no longer.
This Grandma recently wrote a blog post about how we Boomer Grandparents have the most wealth in America. GG (great grandmother), now near age 94, has been a great role model for us. She wants to be alive to see the joy and benefits of sharing her good fortune with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She just does not want to transfer her nest egg when she dies. She wants to give it now. The grandchildren and great grandchildren have benefited from her largesse. We are following her example, to the best of our financial ability, and to the extent we can give of our time and effort.
The difference between age 94 and age 70 is that at age 94 you feel free to say what you want when you want, according to GG. We grandparents should also feel free to say how we contribute to our grandchildren’s lives, especially now that it is an open secret. The New York Times, May 14, 2017, included an opinion piece by Lesley Stahl, “Grandbabies: The Great Reward.”
She should have called it, “Grandparents: The Grandbabies’ Great Reward.”
She starts off with this Grandma’s mantra of never say no when she begins, “we band of lovesick indulgers whose ability to say no seems to be disabled the day our grandbabies are born. . . “ She continues immediately to ‘out us,’ reinforcing this Grandma’s recent post, “We Boomer Grandparents are Seventy Million Strong and Now Have the Greatest Power To Change Our World,” in which I gave statistics that “ [T]he 55+ age group controls more than three-fourths of America’s wealth (ICSC).” Lesley Stahl reveals the truth that we have been whispering:
“And my generation is spending more money on our grandchildren, 64 percent more than grandparents did just 10 years ago, doling out, for instance, roughly $4.3 billion a year on primary and secondary school tuition. We’re also spending on everyday needs like baby food, clothes and tricycles as well as big-ticket items like the crib, the stroller, a piano (that was me). We’re straightening their teeth when they get a little older.”
She gives us her opinion as to why we are able to help make our grandchildren’s lives the best they can be and why we are so willing to do so.
And, she out us as whisperers. Read what she and her friends contribute to their grandchildren’s homes and lives, and shares how she has a full nursery at her house.
Yes, it is now okay to be out in the open thanks to a successful television correspondent, Lesley Stahl, becoming a vocal grandmother. We no longer should whisper about how we assist the parents of our grandchildren with our time, our babysitting or our paying for child care, and more. We should be proud we are able to assist the parents of our grandchildren to give the grandchildren more experiences and enhance their lives.
This Grandma never had grandparents, as they were killed in the Holocaust. I never knew the unconditional love and support from a grandparent who adored me beyond measure. It has led me to learn from GG and other grandmas how to be the best grandma I can be.
Our grandchildren are Grandpa and my greatest reward just by their existence.
We want to be and try each and every day to be our grandchildren’s greatest reward.
We do not have to whisper about it anymore for the best reason. We grandparents benefit the most when we provide what we can for our grandchildren. It seems that Lesley Stahl agrees. We invest in our future, the next generation to come, and such investment and watching the investment grow, mature and flourish, brings us such
Joy,
Mema
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