by BabyCenter Guest Blogger posted in Parenting

By Steve Calechman
My wife Jenny and I are lucky. We have two healthy boys, one almost 6, the other almost 3. We have great neighbors who?ve told us when our car lights are on and given us homegrown cucumbers and PVC pipe. Best of all, we have two mothers. We couldn?t have the life we do without their support. I?m a big fan of the grandmas.
I just want to make sure that?s a clear, unambiguous matter of record -- that I?m a big fan of grandmas, because I have to something else to add. As a freelance writer, I work from home and get to spend a lot of time on playgrounds. I?ve observed caretakers of all ages. And to all the older people out there, I?ll just say this, and I?ll say it with love: I can?t believe that some of you were parents at one time. I?m not saying that because you seem more interested in your iPhone than that your 2-year-old charge is about to drunk-walk into a swing path, though that certainly doesn?t help your cause. It?s that, as an outside observer, you don?t seem to be fully locked into the job. Maybe I?m generalizing, but from what I can tell, apparently, once you?re done with your own kids, every parental instinct leaves your body, never to return, and your approach to every situation is, ?They gotta learn.?
I don?t doubt that most of you were good parents in your day. I have no interest in comparing and contrasting. Besides, it?s pointless. It?s like comparing athletes of different eras. Technology, p...