New Zealander Yvonne De’Mille and her mum both live in Australia, but they've never been close.
The mum-of-three's partner Alexandre is French. Most of his family live thousands of miles away on the other side of the world, and his mum is lucky if she makes it out to visit once every two years.
While they’re very happy living in Melbourne, Australia, the couple are worried about their kids who have never really experienced that special grandparent-grandchild bond.
That’s why Yvonne recently put an ad in a local newspaper. In the ad, she stated that they were looking for a genuine elderly couple to share time with their children, Ruby (2) and six-month-old Dartagnan. Yvonne also has a son, Marco (13), from a previous relationship.
The couple have a few ideas about the sort of people they’d like in their kids’ lives.
“I suppose positive people. Life throws everyone challenges, so someone who moves on and deals with things would be good,” Yvonne told Sunrise.
“I guess if the man had building skills he could teach Marco that would be nice. But I guess just genuine, honest people.”
While Yvonne feels her kids are very happy with the way things are, she’s concerned that they’re missing out by not having grandparents nearby.
“Today, people don’t relate to the older generation. The actual connection with people isn’t there. Look how much has changed in just 100 years. It’s important we remember our history.”
“It would be cool to have a new person to learn from, someone with different mannerisms who knows different things about the world.”
Aww. What a fab reminder not to take grandparents for granted.
