Maddie you bring memories back for me also. Except I was the one that kept the grandkids from the grandma and grandpa.
I was a young mother and 20 years old when I started to study. I already had 2 kids and had a third shortly after becoming a JW.
The witnesses had me convinced that my parents(Being worldly) were evil and should not be allowed around my kids as they were not JW's..(demons and all that bull) you know the story...anyway that went on for maybe 2 or 3 years.
They did get to see the grandparents but not nearly as much as the JW grandparents. Holiday presents were refused. We had a talk and we agreed if they wanted to give the kids presents to do it on non holidays.
Well I was having problems with my middle daughter in school (as if being a JW wasn't enough) and we went for counciling.(A JW No No) The psychologist sent my daughter out of the room after talking to her alone and called me in. She then proceeds to tell me that my daughter thought that my side of the family was bad and my husbands side was good..My side was NOT a JW and his side was.My parents were in no way bad. They bent over backwards to respect our beliefs.And would never have done anything to hurt the kids. Well that was a wake up call for me..I no longer kept the kids from their grandparents and started saying only nice things about them around the kids. My daughter did get better..it's amazing how something like that can effect a kid, remember she was only t 6 or 7 at that time.
Imagine how a kid interprets a "Grandma and Grandpa" are bad thing and to go even furthur they are taught the world they live in is bad and so are all the people in it. How bad is that? Talk about warping a kids mind..
Thankfully I finally left the religion when they were in their teens and none of the kids stayed in it. They see the religion as it is..a cult. Many disagree with that but I really feel it is..how many religions make you turn your back on loved ones and teach you the world and all in it is bad. They are part of the world ..wouldn't they think they possible are bad also? What a thing to lay on a kid.
Thankfully also my parents lived to see me leave the religion and I bet my parents did some thankful crying behind closed doors..my Mom died before my dad so when he was really Ill and didn't have to long to live he told me that my joining that religion had hurt my Mom so much...she never let on, never complained to me, what a loving Mom. Sure beats the heck out of my cold JW MIL...
I couldn't tell my Mom and Dad how sorry I was enough...
Edited to add: The other thing I noticed was that my hubby and his JW parents were the ones that constantly ran down the Non JW relatives to my kids..and of course they were all on my side of the family..I didn't even catch how often they did that until after I talked with that psychologist. How sick...