Dugong Dissapointed...

Our family makes it a point to go back to my Dad's home for dinner at least once a week...primary reason is for my parents to spend some time with our kids.

That's a cool arrangement...the grandparents get to see the grandkids, my kids get to play with their cousins...Li-Anne and I get to see my parents and sister and brother-in-law.....there's free food...

Why am I dissapointed?

Well, I think there's a distinct difference between spending time and spending quality time..

In this case, I just wish my mum had more chances to spend quality time with my kids.

My mum is a simple lady...never someone who would complain about anything...and is always happy and contented with what she's given. She's more than happy to see us once a week, although I know deep down, she wishes we could come home more often. She was probably the happiest person when our family had to bunk in at their place for 1 month when we were moving house in December.

Imagine this...she's taking care of my niece and nephew full-time and when we were bunking over, she had both my kids in daily attendance as well. She was happy...she just wanted every one of her grandkids together.

Nowadays, when we go back, it's usually for 2-3 hours and it's right smack in the middle of dinner time. Within that time slot, there's the mad scramble to feed my nephew and niece and even after feeding, the other un-ending needs of the two kids will bog her down for the entire timeslot.

I wanted to show my mum some photographs from Terelle & Thane's blog last night...it was the best way to keep her updated about the ongoings in their life...

It was tough...I could NOT catch her attention for longer than 5 seconds at a time and I was busy trying to narrate to her as I scrolled through the blog but it was an almost impossible task...

My Dad doesn't really help calm the chaotic scene, most of the time, his attempts to help makes things worse...in any case, I don't feel he sees the need to keep abreast of the happening's in the grandkid's lives...maybe to him that 2-3 hours a week is sufficient...

I am truely upset...and I said a silent prayer last night that I will see to it that things change. My kids won't be little and THAT cute for long, and there won't be many years left for my mum to enjoy them as they are now.

For all the quirky-ness of my in-laws, especially my mum-in-law, I'm deeply grateful and appreciative of the quality time they spend with my kids. There is undivided attention, although many a times, it borders on spoiling them, but hey, nothing's perfect....

Maybe it's because there are no "other grandkids" to contest for their attention...maybe...but I guess for now, it's up to me to change things on this side of the fence..