For the older members in the group , perhaps ?

Being a grandfather is one of the most rewarding pastimes of my life , I tried to pass along my feelings on the matter in my fourth novel, as follows :

The scene is a darkened room containing nanny Angel and her two new grandchildren .

"What is it about grandchildren" she wondered , she had been a grandmother for so short a period yet already she recognised that which all grandparents came to realise . That there is a special bond between themselves and their childrens children , certainly not better than with their own children , but certainly different . Could it just be the old feeling returning , that feeling of unconditional love for a baby that she had forgotten after so long . That was a part of it undoubtedly but there was more , there was an aprehension for the child that she didnt recall feeling for her own children . It was confusing at first , she felt a responsibilty towards them and yet knew that she could never own that responsibilty , through the coming months she would gain a better understanding of her feelings . She would come to understand that whereas she had always been so close to her own children..... with no barriers . With her grandchildren , although she had a definite role to fulfil, it stopped short of being responsible for and controlling their upbringing .

She was a very , very , loving interested bystander , she slowly recognised that this was not such a bad thing to be , she thought back to her her childrens relationship with their grandparents.

It had been Angel's and Michael's responsibilty to raise their children , be the hard nosed parent when required , on a number of occassions when one of the children had been reprimanded it was Mum or Betty or George who may have put things in perspective for the child , possibly in a way that she as a parent could not . This hadn't taken the the form of over riding the parents authority with the child , more like enforcing that authority as an unbiased third party, as a very , very , loving , interested bystander ?

Any comments from the grandfolk out there ???