What role should a grandparent play in a childs life?

I have a two year old grandson who lives about 800 miles away. my wife and I travel from philadelphia, pa to mableton, ga once every two months to see him. Just before he was born I made him a cradle. When he started walking I made him a really cool tire swing. As he grows I will continue to make him things until he gets to an age where I can teach him to make things. I don't think a grandparents role should be as a frequent babysitter. When my daughter was born I devoted my life to her and as close as my mother and me are, I never asked her to babysit. My daughter is now 32 and has devoted herself to my grandson and making sure he grows up as enlightened and well rounded as I made sure she was. It's her job, mine as a grandparent is to give him the parts of me that are uniquely me that are positive, and to make sure he knows that he always has my love.

Nowadays most parents are employed and its the grandparents who are taking care of children.They know very well that their daughter in law works for the welfare of the family and considering this i have seen my grandparents taking immense care of the grandchildren.They are experianced in life so they can take their grandchildren to a good path.Unfortunately i didnt get a chance to grew up with my grandparents as my moms parent live in a different country and my dads mom live with her daughters family.

I take care of the twin daughters of my son most of the time. They are now 4 years old. I feed them, bathe them, teach them, play with them, have them sleep and I know I am playing some important roles ins the life of my grandchildren.

I live about 5 minutes from my parents, which are the only living Grandparents my children have. My husbands mother and father are both deceased. We see them everyday. We got over to visit, they stay over to play. They are with Grandma and Grandpa all the time as am I. They spoil them something horrible. They put in a pool just for them, they have a trampoline for them, and lots and lots of toys. I couldn't imagine my life without them and I don't think they could either. I love being around my parents, and so do my kids. And my parents love having the grand kids around.

When I was a child I lived much with my grandparents. Now I have still two grandmothers, they are both 90 years old and one of them lives near me, so I visit her every week end. My relationship with my grandparents was very important to me and now I take my little son to my parents very often because my son is happy to stay with them and because I think that this kind of relationship is very important for my child. Grandparents love so much their grandchildren because these children represent their ancestry going on, sooner or later we'll die, but we will live through our children and our children will live through their children, and so on. This is a Pagan concept: the life that goes on circularly.

My mom and dad who are grandparents to my nieces and nephews plays an important role in thier lives. They loved them so much, they can't wait to spend summer vacations and holidays with them..and even weekends at times. I think without them knowing it, they are instilling moral and social values with the kids through thier everyday lives.I can see how the kids were loved and pampered but the bad side is they tend to spoil them at times so that's where thier parents but in. I wish my future kids will still eb able to enjoy the same thing with thier grandparents.

The name says it all. They are a grandparent not a parent. They should never override what a parent teaches or tells a child unless that child is seriously being abuse or neglected.

Just being there for them is good enough for me and I think they can help out raising a child when the parents need help with that.