SBS Insight aired this week. (They came to me with the first question… you can see my deer-in-the-headlights look)
I came away with more questions than answers, which is probably about right.
But one question has been sitting with me:
How much time do grandparents really have to matter?
I don’t mean raising our grandchildren or competing with their parents.
I mean becoming part of their idea of what normal looks like.
When they’re very young, they still want to come with you.
To the shops.
To the yard.
To make lunch.
To watch you fix something.
To see how you handle getting something wrong.
Then, gradually, the world gets bigger.
School. Friends. Sport. Screens. A thousand other things.
That window doesn’t close on a particular birthday. But it does close.
And perhaps our job as grandads is simply to make good use of it while it’s open.
No extra grandadding required.
I’ve written about what that might look like.