Grandparents house, what do you need?

When mine were little I had a toy basket that they loved searching through whenever they came over. We live at the beach so we had sand toys as well. Def one of those little chairs that attaches to the table as a booster seat. Oh and some clothes in their sizes for when they have accidents or need an extra sweater. 

I saved a lot of my kids toys, so I have been getting them out at age appropriate times when they come visit. I am never quite sure who is more excited to see the toys, the grandkids or my kids! I am glad I saved what I did. I only saved a fraction of them, but the really special things.

I brought my grand daughter her Mom's American Girl doll, and she flipped out! LOL It was so fun to see.

Our play/tree house is still in our yard. The kids helped their dad build it. It was not a kit, but of their own design. It's permanent. My grands are too little for it yet - as it's a bit of an adventure to get into.

I have custom made high chair from their childhood, but it is more of a toddler chair that is table height. I try to get any foods they want, but they always bring most of that along.

I have a high chair, bibs and baby dishes, a toy box full of toys, a basket of books, and a car seat. I was going to buy a portacrib when she was born but they live in the same town and she hasn’t done any sleepovers here yet so I haven’t needed one. They have one if I do. I’m on the hunt for a comfortable rocker because the only rocking chair I have is more decorative, and we love to rock and snuggle at her house.🥰

Noisy toys or toys parents won’t let kids have. Play doh, slime, finger painting, water beads. Books and old toys that belonged to parents. If nice weather water table for outside.
My grandmother cooked with me a lot. My grandpa did art and projects with me. My favorite memories.

I don’t think it’s a given at all.

I think grandmas get excited and want to go shopping and relive parenting and then they’re all shocked pikachu face when the new generation wants to parent differently.

Especially people who try to have grandparent showers or register themselves.

Toys, books, high chair, crib/pack and play to sleep, parent approved food/snacks/drinks, sippy cups, bottles, etc. Basic first aid/safety items.

And if there is any chance you will take your grandchildren anywhere, a car seat. Ask your child which kind to buy and make sure you know how to use it.

I will always remember how great my parents were with our dd and how they were so cautious with her safety and listened to what we told them in regards to the car seat etc. We had a few minor issues with eating, but overall they fed her healthy approved foods.

Ok, well my first hand experiences are very different. Among my friends, relatives and acquaintances (many of whom are grandparents) they instinctively want to help their children through the early days/months of parenting, not make it harder and are very careful not to impose their thoughts and ideas on them. It's obvious that things change such as whether a baby should sleep on their side/back or whatever. When I had my first grandchild 6 years ago my DD would just tell me if things had changed or I would ask "Is this the way you like it done?"

Are you talking about people you actually know? If so, that's sad and not helpful at all. And I've never heard of a grandparent shower or register!   

Think of who is saying this. You know she lives in an alternate reality. Where children dress alike. Were she can’t comprehend how people see commercials while watching tv. Where life is not worth living if you can’t have an event every night if the week. 

Here’s some articles about grandparent showers:

www.huffpost.com/entry/grandparent-baby-showers_n_5988f20de4b0d7937389a2c3/amp

www.today.com/parents/grandma-baby-showers-celebrate-fun-stage-life-2d79695466

blog.grandparentgiftco.com/howtoholdagrandmashower/

Baby proofing your home was at the top of my list.

A safe sleep place, diaper essentials, a play mat or blanket to lay down, crinkle toys, and burp rags to start. A private, quiet area for mom to feed if she’s not comfortable doing it in front of everyone. I am local to my parents so a lot of the stuff they have for my son at their house is stuff I’ve brought over, they haven’t really had to buy anything. I like to drop off the noisy toys my mom loves to buy and keep them at her house .

The most helpful thing is to baby and toddler proof the rooms you want them spending time in. I can’t relax when I’m hovering over trying to make sure he’s not knocking over fragile items or putting old potpourri in his mouth. I don’t expect every person at every house to do that kind of clean up, but it was helpful when my mom cleaned up her shelves after a couple close calls.

What a neat thread! I had special things that were only at Grandma's house:

A special doll, all of the accessories and baby buggy. I also had a box of crayons that she had kept from when my Dad was young. Many of them were broken but I LOVED looking through that box for colors and labels that I hadn't seen in my own crayons at school. Back in the 1970s she would always bring home cool paper and accounting ledgers from work for me to color on.

She was a court clerk during the day and had a second job at the VFW as a bartender at night. She kept coins from her purse in a little silver bowl and when I would come over, I would put the coins from the bowl in to a HUGE whiskey bottle that she had kept from the bar. I still have that bottle - It's crazy, because when I see the lid, I can remember how large it felt in my hands when I was a child and the excitement of those coins falling in to the bottle!

The toys are sorted into tubs by age and interest and still stored under the stairs in our basement. My oldest dgd invited her cousin into our basement announcing "Gramma has the most wonderful WalMart down there!" The toys that survived our active kids are pretty tough and kid safe. The Fisher Price people are the small ones, but no toddler under 3 was ever playing down there unsupervised. It has been a great joy to watch the grandkids using their imaginations playing with the toys their parents loved.

We kept the crib and the high chair. The high chair got used alot, and we adapted the strapping system to make it safe. Never used the crib b/c it had been declared unsafe, and the parents came with portable cribs.

This is the first thing I think of when I think of my Grandmas. Goodies my mother didn't buy.