To Abby, it sounds like your mum had the right balance; encouraging activity as well as letting you choose 2 extracurricular things to participate in. A good balance.

To Donna… Ah, the joy of grandparents. It’s great that your kids’ grandmother played such an important role in their lives. I was blessed with something of the same situation and it’s always interesting to see what view and position the grandparents will take. Let’s not forget that they have already done this so perhaps we can learn a lesson or two from them!

My mother was a prominent fixture in my children’s lives and she eliminated the phrase “I’m bored” from their lives very early. Her answer to that was always “Well, nobody is going to be bored around here. Do you want me to find something for you to do, or do you want to find it yourself?”

It didn’t take them long to learn that her choices for them weren’t all that pleasant and definitely not fun.