Grandparents rejoice as they welcome grandkids back
Melbourne grandparents are rejoicing as they welcome grandchildren back to their homes after lockdown. Here’s how one family made the most of their reunion.
Victoria
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Melburnians are relishing the chance to see their loved ones face-to-face at home after harsh lockdown kept dinner table catch-ups off limits for months.
Carrum Downs grandfather Ray Tobias said he planned to make up for lost time as his three granddaughters hurtled towards him and barraged him with hugs on Friday afternoon.
“It’s fantastic,” Mr Tobias said. “We haven’t done that in so long, just sharing simple times,” he said.
“You really don’t realise how much you miss that until you can’t do it,” Ray
Mr Tobias said the most difficult part of being away from three-year-old Phoebe, six-year-old Alicia and eight-year-old Kaitlyn was having to miss two of their birthday celebrations.
“The hardest thing was missing things like birthdays” Mr Tobias said.
“When we last saw Alicia, she was five and now she is a big six-year-old.
“When Phoebe was two, she really wasn’t talking that much, and now we see her and she is saying sentences. You miss those sort of things.”
Mr Tobias’ wife, Pam, agreed and said lockdown was toughest when milestones came and went without them seeing their grandkids face-to-face to celebrate because they were used to seeing the girls regularly.
“We have never missed birthdays with them,” Pat said. “We used to see them every weekend,” she said.
“As much as you want to be there with your grandchildren … you can talk to them on the phone but it doesn’t give you the joy of being there when they get to tell you the exciting things.”
“It’s not the same.”
Pam and Ray Tobias are among millions of Victorians who hung on every word of Premier Daniel Andrews’ long-awaited announcements on Monday last week in hopes he would finally loosen the reins on household visits.
From Wednesday, Melburnians were allowed one visit per day between family and friends.
Up to two adults from one household, and their dependants, could visit one another once a day.
Mr Andrews announced the move while urging locals to maintain caution at their homes in a bid to curtail further home outbreaks.
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Originally published as Grandparents rejoice as they welcome grandkids back