Olga Commandeur: “What's great about being a grandma is that you learn so much in the process.”

Olga Commandeur | Former athlete and presenter | Proud grandma of three grandchildren

From baby/toddler swimming to walking and cycling. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Olga Commandeur prefers to be active with grandson Jamairo (4) when it’s her day to babysit him. “My husband and I have three grandchildren, of which the two youngest were born this year. Those cute little mites, lovely! And we're by no means settling down as there's another one on the way!”.

Special bond

From day one, Olga's had a very strong and special bond with grandson Jamairo. “I was allowed to witness his birth, which was a special moment in its own right. I relived the feeling of becoming a mum myself for the very first time, I thought it was wonderful. I was so proud of my daughter and my grandson. From the first moment that I saw his radiant dark eyes the love I felt for him was unconditional. Ever since Jamairo was born I have a fixed day for babysitting him, which has strengthened our bond even more. I'm nuts about him and he's nuts about me.”

Quality time

“As a mother I had to divide my time between my work and my children. The time I share with my grandchildren is quality time. Every time they visit, the entire day is all about them. It also enables me to fully experience the grandchildren’s development. It's pretty cool to see how they, as children, develop, grow and blossom. Every time I see Jamairo he again learnt something new. That makes me a real proud grandma.”

“The time I spend with my grandchildren is quality time and I enjoy it like you can't believe.”

Active grandma

Olga includes lots of active activities when spending time with her grandchildren. “Exercise is very important to me, which obviously stems from my personal background. Playing and exercising together not only strengthens the bond, it's also of benefit to your own health. Thankfully, Jamairo is quite an active little guy and loves to set off together. From childhood on I took him to baby and toddler swimming once every week. He absolutely loved it! And now that he's grown a bit bigger, we like to walk on the beach or go cycling.”

Habits

“Because of my fixed babysit day, Jamairo and I developed our own habits. For example, we like to go to ‘our’ playground. Always by bicycle and straight to the climbing frame upon arrival where we've developed our own game. We play it time and time again and he still loves it as much as the very first time. I enjoy that immensely. I hope to have personal traditions with all my grandchildren in a number of years. At this time, the youngest are still a bit too small.”

Great example

“We try to create a lovely place for all our grandchildren where they will always feel at home. In this respect, my parents are a great example; all the grandchildren visiting at the same time; it's just one big crazy party. We try and celebrate holidays such as Sinterklaas, Christmas or Easter together and I always look forward to it in great anticipation. On these days we find it important to spoil our grandchildren and to present them with a lovely, good-quality gift. Finding the perfect gift can be quite a chore, but where Jamairo is concerned something with cars will always go down well. He absolutely loves them! After all, there is a reason why he sometimes refers to me as “Granny Tesla", named after my car.”

Follow your heart

“What I find so great about being a grandma is that you still learn so much in the process. The grandchildren may learn from you, but you will also learn from them. The interaction with a little one will make you learn more about yourself. My message to our grandchildren in particular is that they must discover the world. Do what you like to do, follow your heart and your dreams.”

Are you looking for more inspiration? Take a look at our interview with Hans Kazan: proud grandparent to nine grandchildren!