If you had a grandparent or a grandparent figure in your life growing up, do you remember what they played with you as a kid? Do you remember the stories they told? The games you played together?

Chances are you remember glimmers. I can remember my grandfather reading to me at night and singing a song about a grandfather clock. My grandma always had bikkies waiting for us. I have flashes of horsie rides and peekaboo, and cousins always around they are hazy flickers that sit somewhere deep in my memory.

I don’t remember all the details of what we played. What I remember most is the feeling – of being seen, safe, and loved.

A Village That Holds Us

My four boys have been lucky enough to have four involved grandparents. I have memories of my mum and dad taking my boys off my hands to “look at the trees” when witching hour as a young mum was feeling far too intense. I remember my parents taking the time to read Where is the Green Sheep again and again, or play peekaboo for what felt lik...