Grandparent heroes
«We knew that they loved us»
"First and foremost, I remember all the delicious food I was served by my grandmothers in Hungary. Unfortunately, I was still a child (8 and 11 years old respectively) when they died. My grandparents on both sides were very simple people who experienced a lot of hardship. They didn't talk much and didn't have time to play with me and my sister. But we knew that they loved us.
After the birth of my three sons, my mum stayed with me for three weeks at a time. She also helped me a lot during the holidays we spent in Hungary and often looked after the children. "
Éva Berger, foundation secretary, three grown-up sons (Read also: From full-time mum back to work)
«We regularly go on three-generation trips»
My grandparents lived in Graubünden. My father was a teacher back then and so we spent almost all our school holidays with them in the mountains. I still think back fondly today. It was a wonderful time with my grandparents.
My children only grew up with one grandparent. My father died before the children were born. They had no connection with my husband's parents at the time. These grandparents had no time for their grandchildren and so visits were pretty rare.
My mum, on the other hand, only lived a few houses away from us. So my girls saw their grandmother almost every day. She also looked after the children when I was at work. The bond with my grandmother is still very close today and not a day goes by without my daughters contacting her or seeing her. We spend a lot of time together and the four of us regularly go on our three-generation outings!
Renata Canclini, Sales Manager, two grown-up daughters. (Read more from her: Tips for the patchwork family)
«Not without our grandma!»
I hardly knew my own grandparents. Both of my grandfathers died before or shortly after I was born and neither of my grandmothers lived near us, so we rarely saw them.
Today, I value my children's relationship with their grandparents all the more, especially with Grandma. They certainly see my mum once a week and Grandad in heaven often comes up in conversations. My mum was extremely supportive after the birth of our first child and then even more so after the twins were born. And as much as I appreciate her help and am eternally grateful to her, what makes me happiest is that I can share the joy of our children with her so much. There's no one else I can spam so uninhibitedly with child photos à gogo, no one sends back a heart even after the umpteenth Gugus video. Except perhaps Grand-maman and Grand-papa on my father's side, who live in French-speaking Switzerland and are therefore rarely in Zurich. They also really appreciate the virtual greetings from their grandchildren and are able to share in family life from a distance, which is also not a given and all the nicer.
Florina Schwander, Head of Online Editing. One daughter, soon to be 6, twin boys, 4 years old. (You can also read about her: A new era as a mum)
«She was simply a good person»
A reproduction of William Turner's painting «Rain, Steam and Speed» hung on my grandmother's living room wall. It's a beautiful picture. Like all the others I remember of her.
My brother and I visited our grandma regularly during the spring and autumn holidays throughout our childhood. She lived as a single woman in a small 3-room flat in the prefabricated housing estate Neue Vahr in Bremen. Today, this is considered a problem neighbourhood. For us, it was an idyll. Because it was part of Grandma's world and we loved everything about it.
She hadn't had the easiest life as a single mum in Bremen, who gave birth to her child two and a half months before the start of the war and later went through cancer. But there was no trace of harshness or bitterness in the grandma I knew and loved. I can't remember ever hearing a harsh word from her. For her, it was a matter of course that we always did what we could for each other. She was simply a good person. And I try to convey to my daughter, in whose face I sometimes recognise my grandma, that this is the best we can all become.
A reproduction of «Rain, Steam and Speed» also hangs on my living room wall today.
Benjamin Muschg, Head of Production, a four-year-old daughter.
Ode to my mother-in-law
It wouldn't work without Kathrin. Kathrin is my mother-in-law - a sprightly woman in her seventies and a former special school teacher. How lucky she is that she still loves children - especially our little rascals. The love is mutual - the children enjoy their time with their grandmother. She lives on the edge of the forest in a Villa Kunterbunt, where almost everything is allowed; there is a dog, a kitten, a large garden, a vegetable patch and lots of trees to climb. At Grandma's, the children are allowed to lick moonstone, abseil down from the balcony, make a fire and knock stones in the house's own quarry.
It wouldn't work without Kathrin. My wife also works and travels a lot as a travel journalist. We share the care and nurturing of our children as best we can. I work 80 per cent at Schweizer ElternMagazin, Friday is Dad's Day, when I make sandwiches, clean shoes from the last day in the woods, dress wounds, mend blocked drains, look at homework books and have fractions explained to me. I accompany Junior to football training and my daughter to ballet, I go shopping and do paperwork.
It wouldn't work without Kathrin. My mother-in-law supports our little family in word and deed. Always in a good mood, she conjures up mountains of food on the table in no time at all, doesn't even let her prematurely pubescent daughter upset her, practises the cello with her junior and the violin with her daughter, attends parents' evenings and has our backs when my wife and I have too many balls in the air again.
It wouldn't work without Kathrin. Therefore, at this point and quite officially: thank you, dear Kathrin - on behalf of all the grandmothers and grandfathers in the world. Thank you for your support. Your patience. Your time. And your inspiration.
Nik Niethammer, editor-in-chief. Son 10, daughter 8 years old.
Read more from the Fritz+Fränzi team:
- In unserer Serie «Wir fragen uns ...» stellen wir uns in der Redaktion und Verlag gegenseitig Fragen aus dem grossen Familienuniversum. Lesen Sie hier alle Beiträge: Wir fragen uns.
- Unsere liebsten Kinderbücher zum Vorlesen
Von Pippi über den kleinen Nick zum Hühnerdieb: Wir stellen Ihnen unsere liebsten Kinderbücher zum Vorlesen vor. - Ferien mit der Familie: Unsere Tipps
Das Meeresrauschen von den Sommerferien noch im Ohr, den feinen Glacégeschmack noch auf der Zunge – und doch könnte man schon wieder Ferien gebrauchen. Unsere Tipps für entspannte und gleichzeitig spannende Ferien mit der Familie.