8 Steps to Recreating the Perfect Grandparent-Style Summer

If you've thought giving your kids the freedom of a '70s summer would be great, why not take it up a notch and give them the real deal: a grandparents-style summer. What could be more magical than the feeling of spending vacation time with their doting Nana and Grampy, even if you don’t have access to grandparents.

Here are 8 tips to help you replicate the wonders of a vacation spent with the originators of the '70s summer:

1. Give your kid a really bad haircut

Nothing says grandparents summer like an unflattering haircut. Do it yourself with a bowl and a pair of kitchen scissors. 

2. Crotchet a snappy outfit

Dust off some old crotchet patterns and make a sharp outfit made out of yarn. What could be more fashion forward than a dress or bathing suit handmade with a hook? Warning: even though it may be very hot, do not get outfit wet under any circumstances.
(Photo by Tiffany Terry/Flickr  CC BY 2.0)

3. Put big bowls of candy all over your home

Adorn your home with charming dishes of candy that the kiddies can access. At any time. No questions asked. Bedtime may need to be adjusted depending on timing of candy consumption.
(Photo by Gord Webster/Flickr  CC BY 2.0)

4. Have 20 TV remote controls

One catch: Make sure you don’t know how to work any of them. Create a game where kids try and figure out which one actually controls the TV. When they do, get them to explain it to you. A couple of times.
(Photo by Sonny Cohen/Flickr  CC BY 2.0)

5. Serve whatever you want

Even if the kids don’t like it. And don’t make different meals to suit various kid tastes. If they refuse to eat it, simply shrug your shoulders and say, "See ya at breakfast." Repeat at next mealtime.
(Photo by Katharine Shilcutt/Flickr   CC BY 2.0, colours saturated from original)

6. Let kids get bored

Do not fill your afternoon with complicated crafts and educational activities. Let kids amuse themselves for awhile, even if they’re bored. Eventually they will find something to do. In the meantime, use your free time to do something you like. No sense in everyone being bored, right?
(Photography by Sirikorn Thamniyom © 123RF.com)

7. Tell them how far you walked to school

At any and every opportunity let them know how much harder you had it when you were a kid. Like when you went to school and had to walk for miles and miles...
(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

8. Cover all your furniture

Use towels, blankets or even plastic sheets. After years of raising kids, grandparents deserve a couch free of sticky fingerprints. And then go cuddle your kids on that couch. Because no one knows more than a grandparent how fleeting these summers are.
(Photo by Harvey& Marie Sanborn/Flickr   CC BY 2.0)