For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 06, 2023

Grandparent separation anxiety for Aypo.

So, 3rd grade teacher asks her class to describe what a grandparent is. The best answer was from a little girl who responded that grandparents live at the airport because thats where they would go to pick them up and when they where done with them they would take them back…..to the airport!

Awwww…

Cute

Aww. April wants to go with them. Like the kitty that gets in your suitcase as you pack because she wants to go too!

I like being that kind of grandpa.

Grandparents let you get away with more.

Love on the grand scale

Awww! I’ll bet there are uncountable thousands of grandparents reading this today that have tears streaming down their eyes now!

Of my parents’ 13 grandchildren, my 2 girls were the only ones who got to do “overnights” with them. I don’t count when my brother & his family had to live with my parents for a bit. My girls thought sleeping on the “pull-out” couch was fun, and my mother made sure they called us to say “goodnight”.

Someone…….might get the impression that ‘little April’ doesn’t want to see her grandparents leave. I only had grandmothers but at least one lived just about 3 blocks away when I was growing up so I had that to fall back on.

That’s the best part about being a grandparent, an aunt, or an uncle… you visit the kids for a little while… Then you go home.

It’s very nice, but, I’m sorry little lady, but even if you love your grandparents very much, they have to go and you stay with your parents!

sadly, they can’t take you with them. but that is sweet that they’ll be missed. :}

Brings a tear to your eye.

Poor April. She is just come to the world and learning all the good things, but they keep leaving her.

Grandparents… cherish them while they are still here. April knows…

Sniff . . . .

My wife and I live like a quarter mile from our grandkids. I’d rather die than be separated from them.

This is why I will always live near my child and her family. I cannot imagine seeing my family only a few times a year. Sure, I would love to live where it’s warmer, but that change would not be worth it to me.

Well hopefully April will be a carry on instead of checked baggage.

This reminds me of how heartbreaking it was for me to be taken away from my grandparents as a toddler. They’re long since dead, and their house sold to strangers, but it’s still ‘home’ to me.

My paternal grandmother is the only grandparent we ever had visit us. The others had died by then. She was pretty old at the time; but my Sis and I were well behaved, so it worked out well. Remember that Grammie was a little scared at the speed that cars went. By the time that she was old enough to have to be put in a home for the aged (not too much after that visit), it was one close to us. I think she even recognized the need for it because she was having difficulty keeping up her house. Guess that it’s all part of the cycle of life; though sometimes something of a “downer”. Many of our grandchildren now live close to us. When they reach a certain age, I guess my wish is that they remember their grandparents as nice people.

Awww…April obviously doesn’t want the visit to end!

That is cute.

She’s right though. Their visit has been dragging on long past the point where most holiday guests would have left. I get that they’re retired so they can take their time getting back, and I also get that with Marian’s declining health Ellie and the gang want to spend quality time with her while they can. But even so, house guests are like fish.

Canada is a country that is very respectful of private property. In order to have private property, four conditions must be met:

1.) Title (or Deed)

2.) Use

3.) Control

4.) Freedom to Dispose.

Elly has met all conditions in owning April. Then again, Elly is a piece of property to Marian and Jim, ergo they have claim to the property of their property.

People who say “grandparents are supposed to…” never met mine. As a child, spending time with them was helping my grandmother pull weeds in the garden or my grandfather taking me to work in a haberdashery he owned, where he showed me different aspects of the shop. The best line I remember from him was “If I am unable to turn this key to unlock the door; we do not eat.” These were people who had survived the Great Depression and the Second World War, and were more concerned about giving me life lessons that would stay with me when they were gone. It never gets old hearing the reaction from others who have stereotypes of grandparenting and hear my own story “But…but…grandparents are supposed to spoil…” or “Why didn’t they use you for revenge on their own children?”. Not every grandparent is going to be a stereotype, no more than every public school is going to be like Happy Days or Saved by the Bell.

One of the all-time nice tries, April!

Bye Mom.

April has decided she wants to live some place where she does not have to depend on the family dog for care.

She should have crawled into one of the suitcases.

My 11 month old grandaughter did this and her parents were so surprised!

Either April has mastered the skill of zipping up her own coat all by herself, or she had an accomplice. :-)

My wife used to appear in commercials where she would take a suitcase and beat it on it mercilessly. Sure hope April does not get thrown in with the luggage!

Might have also been possible that April comprehended that they would be leaving shortly and that Elly’s “last panel bug eyes” means she is impressed that April is good to go; getting her coat and hat on all by herself without the usual kicking, screaming, and nagging.

That’s adorable.

Or this strip…

Elly: Goodbye Mom and Dad.

John: Where is April?

April is holding Jim’s hand as he walks towards the TSA security checkpoint

April: Goodbye Mom and Dad!

John: April, get over here!

Elly: Lost your chance, John. We could have bought her a ticket.

John: ELLY!

Grandparents solemn duty is to spoil their grandkids!

D’awwww…

The little girl being the most prized item.

Based on April’s expression and her young age, what I see is a young child who can’t quite figure out why the entire family isn’t always together. Her dressing up to leave, to me, shows she’s confused about why the grandparents are leaving and the rest of them are not. Child logic, like dog logic, doesn’t always make sense to the rest of us.

One of the all-time NICE TRYS, April!