Oompa Grampa speaks wise words...

This is aimed at all the grandparents out there who like me are enjoying immensely the joy of having beautiful grandkids.

Time goes by in a flash and it only seems like yesterday that I was stepping on small toys in the dark and wondering if there was enough money in the bank. There never seemed to be enough time to read the paper let alone to enjoy things with my children.

Now in the autumn of my life and blessed with 3 adult children who are making there own way in the world and my two daughters have married super guys, [though against the rules both of my son in laws’ are taller than I!] So I find myself elevated to being a granddad [or Oompa!] and it is a role I thoroughly enjoy.

My two beautiful granddaughters are not only different in ages but also in tastes:

Kathryn is known as ‘Danger Baby’ and is 18months old. As you know she's an outdoors girl who loves to get her hands [feet, clothes and everything else] dirty!

Poppy is 4 years old and lives on a stud farm which is run by my daughter and son in law. She also lives very much an outdoor life around the farm and is learning to horse ride on a weekly basis.

I live in Germany and have spent many years here. Additionally my children grew up and were partly educated over here. Therefore my children discovered many things about living in Germany which they still miss today. They miss great choice of wooden toys, the tastes and traditions they grew up with. The memories are still with them and fondly remembered by them all. 


Being an ‘old’ guy with old fashioned ideas I steer clear of cheap and easily broken plastic tat when buying Kathryn & Poppy presents. Therefore classily made wooden toys which last forever, are amongst my favourites and I can now treat my granddaughters to these treasures. Thankfully I live nearby to Markus Kampe who makes beautiful wooden toys for children. 


During a recent visit to Germany my ‘DangerBaby’ granddaughter was extremely active and exhausting to keep amused [her usual self]. A visit to his workshop came to the rescue and the 30+ minutes of peace we had while DangerBaby played with all his magical creations was a welcome respite. He now works with u-ni-k to share his classy and magical wooden toys.

Yet another favourite where us grandparents cannot fail is a superbly home made cuddly toy with character and lovability. Again there is a super range available at u-ni-k of lovely toys to say to a particular grandchild that they are special and you love them.

I have to say that u-ni-k has taken all the hard work of present buying from me. There is always a chance that us grandparents are ‘out of date’ and therefore buy the wrong things which are soon broken or discarded. I trust that Anna & Sarah at u-ni-k to choose what present is right because they are mums with young children and therefore they are on the toy battlefront all day long.

The wise amongst us elder folk know from experience that the cleverest and most needed person in any family is the mother, they know best and always will. I believe that is the main reason why I love www.unikgifts.co.uk and have no hesitation with recommending it to all grandparents who are not worldly wise enough to be as astute as myself !, ;-)

I wish to add that I am not just any old granddad, I am Granddad [OOMPA] of the Year as voted unanimously by Poppy and Kathryn who like there clever mummies – are never wrong!.