My 74-year-old father is a sensible-shoed, even-keeled kind of guy. But, once a week, he becomes as silly and playful as his five- and seven-year-old sidekicks.

The day he picks up my daughters after school for their weekly sushi date is a highlight for them. With him, they get to have the type of ice-creams – like rainbow paddle pops – that I don’t allow. Grandparent privileges. And he takes them to the park where he swings them around, hangs them upside down and chases them about.

Gabrielle Ingate regularly cares for 10-year-old granddaughter Charlie and says it keeps her young. Credit: Edwina Pickles

As well as the close bond they have developed with their grandfather, they learn that you can grow to 10-feet tall (or six-foot-three, in his case), without growing up at all, as the

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