Grand privilege of online grandparenting

IT is Sunday.The child’s parents are at home. We the grandparents are sitting listlessly, missing our most gratifying, pleasant and enjoyable duty, if at all it can be called a duty. Come Monday, we shall be back to our cheerful routine, spending time with our little bundle of joy, our nearly two-year-old granddaughter, not physically but virtually.

Thanks to technology, despite staying miles away in another city, we are enjoying the company of our little darling. Without any dislocation, sitting in the comfort of our home, we are keeping a vigil and having fun too. When the parents — our son and daughter-in-law — leave for their office, we take over. The baby in the care of her maid is under our supervision. It is not about keeping an eye through a CCTV camera, but being in constant touch with her through video-calling, not on the mobile phone but on a television screen. Also, we have the option to connect with her on an electronic tablet that can be carried anywhere in the house.

It is a unique grandparenting experience. Whether Ariana is playing, eating or sleeping, we are virtually there with her, not just watching our sweetheart but fully participating in her day-to-day activities. Not that we interfere all the time but there is a positive intervention as and when required. Even when she is playing with her nanny or busy with her toys, she knows we are around, of course, on her TV screen. The most joyful moments are the ones when the child interacts with us, telling us stories in her own language with actions and gestures. Her baby talk, not so coherent, is music to our ears.

At times, the line between the virtual and the real gets blurred in our minds. We forget that our little one is not physically with us. The other day, while leisurely lounging in our room, my husband and I were watching her sleeping peacefully in her cot. At lunch time, as I picked up the device while going to the kitchen, my husband instinctively stopped me. He reacted as if I was actually carrying the toddler from an air-conditioned room to the hot kitchen!

However, that was just a delusion. The virtual can never replace the real. Technology, howsoever advanced it may be, can never compensate for the absence of the touch. Despite being in contact, we miss the child’s hugs, kisses and cuddles, for which we have to wait till we meet in person.

Video calls may not eliminate the distance but they definitely bridge it. Technology has enabled us to enjoy the grand privilege of participating in the upbringing of our granddaughter. Without any hurry and worry, we are soaking in every moment that we spend with her. Indeed, long-distance grandparenting has filled our lives with joyful energy.