Grandparents

One of my biggest regrets regarding my son is that he won't be growing up around his grandparents or great-grandparents either. I wish I'd gotten more of a chance to know mine growing up and I have many great memories of the set of grandparents I did get to spend time with when I was very young before they died in Houston. Luckily he will get to see his grandparents Mary and Barkley and his grandmother Kym, Josh's parents, since we live near them but I feel guilty about my parents and my grandparents not getting the chance to be around him growing up. I would love to go visit everyone once a year but honestly, financially speaking and also vacation from work speaking, that's just not feasible realistically. However, I have a plan for those long distance relationships. It's not as good as spending time together in person but it'll do I think.

1. Skype - something I just recently started doing with my Mom a couple of weeks ago. It seems to work pretty well and I've set up a plan to do it once a week if possible and definitely at the very least on all holidays for sure.
2. Phone calls - this is something I suck at. I am not a huge phone person and don't really like talking at all and really don't like doing it on the phone for some reason BUT if we can't talk in person it needs to happen.
3. Snail Mail - stamps are so expensive we probably won't be using this very often but for holidays and other special occasions I want to send little homemade gifts that he helps make. For easter I made 2 little cards for Grandma Kym and for Grandma Joey which involved getting his fingerprinting on a piece of paper and turning it into a little chick.
4. Blog - Mom reads this blog I know and she says my grandparents, his great-grandparents, also read it. This way I can share photos and stories and just regular updates to let them know how things are going and see how he's growing.

And it's not just grandparents either I need to focus on. I think being around or knowing his great-grandparents on both sides will do him good as well. Two different generations with different things to teach him as he grows. I need to be better about calling and keeping in touch with my own grandparents and I realized the other day it's good for him to be around Mary and Barkley - Josh's parents/grandparents. They have no TV or electronics at their house, only playthings for him and besides the normal grandparently spoiling they do I watched with a smile as Barkley set Justace on his lap and helped him play a hymn on the old organ in their house. It was so sweet and something I think he will need as he grows up.