We love spending time with our grandchildren, and if you have some of your own, then you’ll know just what we mean. There’s something so special about building a relationship with your children’s children (perhaps the fact that we can give them back has something to do with that).
And hopefully, the grandchild loves spending time with their grandparents too. When I was young, I used to love visiting my grandparents’ house because it was so different, yet equally as welcoming as my regular house. Of course, there are some challenges. For example, when they come to spend the night. That’s a tricky one to get right.
We follow the following tips when our grandchildren come to spend the night, and we think they might just work for you too!
Daytime Energy
If there’s one thing that we all know, it’s that children have bags of energy. In fact, it’s a mystery where it all comes from. One helpful tip for when grandchildren are staying over is to try to use up their energy during the day, rather than in the evening or nighttime. That way, they’ll be much more likely to settle down and get a good night’s sleep — and more importantly, it means that we can get a good night’s sleep, too. A day spent at the park will give them their fill of fun, too, which means there’s less pressure to be entertaining later on.
Sleeping Arrangements
All children want to feel special, and what better way to show them than by giving them their own special bedroom? If they’re staying over regularly, then it’s a good idea to convert one of your spare bedrooms into their personal space. This doesn’t show that you care about them, but it also makes it easier for them to fall — and stay — asleep. You don’t need anything overly special for their bedroom, though the actual bed is important, so be sure to read ‘The Complete Toddler Mattress Buying Guide For New Parents’ before making your purchase. Beyond that, we find that making the bedroom ‘feel’ like a child’s room goes a long way towards helping them fall in love with their space.
Make Them Feel at Home
It doesn’t matter how independent the child is: at some point, they’ll want to be at home. The solution? We make sure that they feel at home in our home. The warm welcome goes a long way to making this happen, but we also look for additional ways to provide home comforts, such as letting them keep their toys and teddies in the house. That way, they build a relationship with the property and learn to see it as their home. Another tip is not to be too strict about house rules. We loosen up the rules when our grandkids are visiting so that they can enjoy the space without feeling like they’re always on the verge of doing something wrong.
Evening Activities
Evenings spent with our grandkids are pretty special. If they’ve been running around all day, then they’ll be in the perfect mindset to just sit on the couch and watch an all-time classic family movie. It’s the little things!
Spoil…But Not Too Much
It’s great to spoil our grandchildren. There aren’t too many people that we get to spoil in this world, but your grandson or granddaughter most definitely makes the list. Indeed, that’ll be one of the reasons why they like visiting us so much. During the sleepover, there are many opportunities to spoil grandkids, but it’s important not to go overboard. If we give our grandkids everything they want, then it’ll likely cause problems once they’re back home. We try to establish some ground rules with the parents before they leave for the day.
Enjoy It
Our final tip is also our best one: enjoy it! It’s not always easy to look after our grandkids because, well, there are definitely challenges in taking care of a little human, even if it’s just for one night. But we also know that we wouldn’t change it for the world. So whether things are going good or bad, we make a conscious effort to appreciate their presence. There’ll come a time when our grandkids are too old and cool to spend the night with us. While they are, we’re not going to let the beauty of it pass us by.
Final Thoughts
And there we have it! These tips have always served us well, and ensure that our grandkids love coming to spend time with us, which we love too.
