I don't tear down my AM (my children's grandmother), but I certainly don't dress her up in Sunday clothes to the kids. She has disappointed them often, but always managed to win them over with packages full of gifts. We recently moved and she doesn't have our new address. If she gets it, I will refuse packages at the door. Anyway, I try to steer away from the love thing because I don't want to lie to my kids. I've told them that Mimi's sickness doesn't make her capable of understanding love, but thankfully I only had to say that once. I emphasize that people can disappoint us and that's ok. It's how we respond to those disappointments that counts. Who knows, maybe I'm screwing my kids up for life. I didn't exactly have the vest parenting example growing up.