[Source unknown, found on FB]
Most people can look at this meme and see a lot of truth in it. I bet you can too. It's not arguable that parents are usually stricter than grandparents. Even strict parents grow up to be less strict when they become grandparents than they were when they were parents.
One of the most interesting ways this manifests is in countries, especially third-world countries, where parents/guardians are still permitted by the law to punish their kids by beating/flogging them. In countries like these, you would find strict parents who use this punishment every time holding back their children from using this punishment when their children birth.
You'd find them holding their kids back from beating their kids when they err. They'll hold their kids back, beg their kids, and sometimes even fight their kids just so their kids don't punish the grandkids. Like, weren't you the one whooping your kids' asses sideways just the other day?
Clearly, people just love the idea of being grandparents more. Trevor Noah even made a joke about how the reason parents get kids is because the bigger plan is to get grandkids. He said this joke while talking about a real-life lawsuit filed in India where some parents sued their kid for not giving them grandkids after 6 years of marriage!
Crazy, huh! But why is this so? Why do people love the idea of being grandparents this much and why do they switch from being strict unpleaseable mfs, to sweet caring grandparents all of a sudden?
Why This is So
There are a couple of logical reasons this is so, and though it is actually a good jolly thing that any group of people have decided to be chill, most of these reasons mostly goes to reveal the selfish nature of humans.
Lesser Responsibility:
When one is a parent one is directly responsible for the child. You provide for them and do so much for them ranging from everything to a lot of things. All of these can make you demand more from the child. All of these can make you feel more like a Lord over that child. And you know what Lords do.
Lordship is rulership, rulership is power and you know, power corrupts. So you can already see how these can make a parent stricter. But when it's all over and they're just grandparents not having so much responsibility, not providing everything or about everything they don't feel so much like Lord's anymore. So they have more space to be chilled.
The Fear of the Child Turning out Badly Reduces:
When one is a parent there's usually a huge fear that your child might turn out badly. This fear haunts most parents and can make them more strict and rigid, all in a bid to not let their kids go astray.
When one becomes a grandparent, though, a grandkid going astray can't be blamed on them, or at least if there's any blame the blame wouldn't compare to what it would have been if it was their kid. So the selfish MFs find themselves caring less than they would have and as a result, being less strict.
The Joy of Seeing Your Lineage Get Longer:
This is usually strong and it makes a grandparent view their grandkids more like a treasure. This joy and resultant chillness is just from the feeling that an emperor gets when his empire expands, nothing more.
Been There, Done That:
Many parents usually get softer as time goes by. You can see this with parents who have say 4, 5 kids or more. They usually get less strict with the lastborns because they're tired of all the strictness as time goes by.
Many of the nightmares they had about their children not turning out fine either didn't manifest or manifested without causing as much damage as they had feared it would cause. Or it probably caused the damage but they came out with thicker skin so they care less now. Or they just realized how helpless they can be on the issue of how a child turns out.
Old Age Comes with Vulnerability, Vulnerability with Aversion to Violence/Hostility
Guys, as you can see I'm actually taking no prisoners here today. I'm really not being nice to no grandparent out here. Lol. I think I'm going the lowest with this one, but let's go there, cronies!
Alright, with old age comes weaker bones and muscles, less energy and vitality, and stuff like that. This usually (usually not always) makes a person rethink their hostile ways. Because the person knows they're now weaker and can't really defend themselves like they used to if hostility is returned to them. So they choose the path of peace in a bid to have peace returned to them.
Grandparents are usually older and this is the case too or at least part of the case in conjunction with the other reasons I've given. This might sound like a weak point when you think about all the disagreeable old people you know but my reply would be they're just exceptions to this rule.
Conclusion
I know the main reason grandparents are more chilled is because it is the job of the parents to discipline and train a child, not the grandparents' so the grandparents mostly leave that for the parents and instead show their chilled side more but am I going to say that?
No, I'm not going to say that, but whoa! Hol' up, I've just said that, haven't I? 🤔
Alright, guys, I chose to fuck with grandparents today because I'm not impressed by how many of them turn from strict mfs to chilled mfs all of a sudden. People out here mostly see it as benign, cute, and adorable. But I have to say not so fast! And point out the sneakiness and the self-serving reasons as humans hardly do things for any other reasons apart from self-service.
I hope I didn't hit too hard, but still hope I hit too hard, cos yeah. Lol.
The End.
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I wish more philosophers were as funny as you are.
Hahahah! Thanks, man! ✌️
This reminds of my mom how she will shout and beat me for every little mistake 🤦♀️ she will tell me how important it’s as woman to be organized and all that. Recently she is so calm with my niece and nephew 😂 she will stop me and my sister from beating them. It hurts me because why didn’t she reason with me back then.
This is great post I enjoy reading it.
Lmao. You have a messed up firsthand experience, sorry.
Thanks ✌️
I hope grandparents don't come for your head, lol!
I hope they do, I'd headbutt them with the head.
I had to laugh, the way you talk about this lightly and with humour...:)
...but I also have to agree! Maybe it is also the "picture" of this old wise grandparent sharing stories and being respected, that appeals to many of us. When I don't know such a widely applied "picture" of "how awesome it is to be a parent"?
I think the more we grow in age to less, we worry about things too much, particularly when we are getting towards old age.
Many would lose interest and see life as not worth for and only reflect in past mistake and what they would have done better. Grandparents always adore and cherish their grandkids. Some of them feel lucky to be alive and see this kids.