Modern Day Grandparenting

Posted on | August 22, 2010 | No Comments

Although we don’t love being halfway across the country from our families, we do love that modern technology helps bring them closer.

We try to do regular video chats with the grandparents so that they can see Poppy in action. We send/share plenty of photos and occasional videos, but something about the real time nature of a chat is all the more thrilling. A couple of times, they’ve even managed to see “firsts,” like the time Poppy crawled toward the laptop… something she had never done up until that moment :)

Today was just a normal day. We caught up with my dad this morning and with T’s parents this evening (we usually chat with my mom during the week since she has weekday/daytime availability and the internet seems less overwhelmed then). The grandparents mostly sit on the their end and wave wildly, yelling, “Poppy! Poppy! Over here!” And Poppy responds by staring blankly at the screen… or wandering in the other direction. Hey, she’s only 10 months old.

Since being home in July, however, P has definitely shown more interest in the video chats and it is clear she now recognizes the folks on the other end, which is exciting. We look forward to the day when she’s able to really interact with them and make it more of a two-way communication. Perhaps we’ll have re-joined them in the Midwest by them and the technology won’t be so necessary, but… if not? We’re glad it’s available as it makes the distance slightly less awful.

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