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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My father wants to sit and read to my children. 
My kids really want to run around. I read to them only at bedtime, and only the same old stories they want to hear over and over and over and over.[/quote]

Having someone read aloud is a great gift for kids. Kids in 3rd and 5th grade are old enough to learn to be patient when grandpa wants to read to them for 20 minutes. Does he have particular books that it wants to read them? If not, you can do some legwork and come up with some possibiltites--I'm sure DCUM could help you with that. And they're not too old to be read to. Make sure they have plenty of running around time before going to grandma and grandpa's (because it obviously doesn't happen there), and let them know you expect them to be polite while grandpa is reading. If they are fidgety, get some thinking putty or something similar so they have something to do with their hands.

[quote=Anonymous]Grandma likes to cook with the kids, which they don't always enjoy (she's quite a stickler about food handling and preparation--everything must be done JUST SO.) [/quote]
Learning to cook is also a great thing for grandparents to share with grandkids! I'm sure if she's so particular, it would be hard for younger kids to enjoy doing this with grandma, but now they're old enough to learn some of Grandma's favorite recipes--and how to do things properly. Approach it like a class--she's the expert, and they'll learn how to do things like the pros do it.

[quote=Anonymous]parents complain that the kids are not relating to them. [/quote]
Since your parents don't seem deft at coming up with ways to relate to the kids, then you can come up with ideas. Do they have old photo albums you can look at together? Can you get a book of questions for grandparent and have the kids ask them about their childhoods? (If this works well, record it for posterity.) Do they have any other skills or hobbies that they could share? (Woodworking, birdwatching, knitting, singing?)

They don't sound like bad grandparents, just slightly clueless ones, so do what you can to support their relationship with your kids. Keep the visits short and bring ideas of things to do together, but keep getting together. [/quote]

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