Additional Coverage:
- I send my kids to their grandparents for 2 weeks every year. They make memories and I reconnect with my husband. (businessinsider.com)
Summer Tradition: Grandparents’ House Offers Fun and Family Bonding for Kids, Parents Get a Break Too!
For the past six years, one family has found a sweet summer tradition that offers the best of both worlds: quality time for kids with their grandparents and a much-needed reconnecting period for the parents.
The annual ritual sees two brothers, currently 10 and 14, spending a week or two at their grandparents’ home in Virginia. This happens after the initial buzz of summer camp and family vacations has settled, providing a perfect segue into late summer fun.
With a five-hour drive separating the families, extended visits during the school year are a challenge. While winter and spring breaks often involve Airbnb stays to catch up, the dedicated summer trip allows for an immersive experience, making up for lost time.
Grandparent Getaway: A Packed Schedule of Fun and Learning
The boys’ time in Virginia is described as “nothing short of a spectacular vacation.” They explore the very surroundings where their dad grew up, forging a deeper connection with their grandparents. Their days are filled with activities, often planned collaboratively with their grandparents via FaceTime weeks in advance.
From daily swims at local indoor and outdoor community pools (including private swimming lessons) to frequent mini-golf outings, their schedule is jam-packed. A staple on the itinerary is a day at Colonial Williamsburg, offering an authentic 18th-century living history experience. Local museums, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Science Museum of Virginia, are also regular stops, as is a yearly visit to Jamestown, the site of the first permanent English settlement.
Quieter moments are spent baking treats, watching movies, and tackling puzzles. The visits also offer a bonus connection with their aunt and uncle who live nearby, and a chance to catch up with their grandparents’ friends and neighbors.
Each summer brings new adventures. Last year, they cheered on the Chili Peppers, a collegiate summer baseball team.
Previous summers included trips to Washington, D.C., where the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery left a lasting impression on the president-loving 10-year-old. One memorable summer even included a personal magic lesson from a local, acclaimed magician.
Even the food gets a fresh perspective! Home-cooked dinners, which might lose their novelty during the school year, are replaced with grandmother’s famous lasagna and grandfather’s delectable cottage cheese pancakes. Favorite restaurants, like Peter Chang’s, a Virginia-exclusive treat, are also back on the menu.
A Mother’s Initial Worry Turns into a Welcome Break
When these visits first began in 2021, the boys were 10 and 7. Understandably, the five-hour distance triggered some “motherly anxiety.” However, as the years have passed and she’s witnessed her sons’ anticipation and joy upon returning with a summer full of memories, the mother has realized the time apart is not only wonderful for the kids but “healthy and necessary for all of us.”
This “short break strengthens our relationship afterward,” she notes. While the kids are enjoying their own vacation, the parents get to reconnect.
In 2023, a child-free getaway to Bermuda was on the agenda. In other years, even when staying home due to work commitments, evenings took on a “whole new meaning.”
Daily date nights, rediscovering favorite restaurants, and enjoying cocktails from their younger years became the norm. Shorter workdays allowed for strolls through their old stomping grounds or outdoor meals with friends, temporarily bringing back the “freedom of our newlywed years.”
Upon their return, both parents and children are refreshed and ready for the bustle of the school year. The mother feels “physically rejuvenated and mentally prepared for everything motherhood brings,” while the boys are ready to fall back into their routine.
This annual summer tradition has become a permanent fixture in their lives, creating lasting memories for both the grandparents and the children, and providing a “peaceful break” that the parents “never knew we needed.”