I make bread all the time, but I wasn’t always a good bread-maker. Making good bread means learning to understand your dough; how it feels, how it looks, what you are trying to accomplish, and of course, practice. My youngest daughter came in for the holidays, and I made a soft, fluffy loaf for the kids. She watched me, and thought I made it look easy, but she thought I kneaded it an awfully long time. I laughed, because I hand-knead the dough until it feels and looks right. My grandkids think I make the best bread in the world, and that’s all that counts. They will remember watching/helping me make bread when I am no longer around.
You’re an awesome grandma. And yes, they’ll have memories that will come back every time they smell or taste freshly baked bread.
I have repetitive stress and juries so I’m limited in what I could do with my hands. So I started off making bread in a KitchenAid. Only once did I actually knead the whole thing by hand. And it was wonderful! I could feel the dough change under my hands so I could really tell when it was ready. I had to use lot of ice on my arms after that :-) But it really helped me to know when the dough was ready by its texture and consistency, even when I use the mixer.
I’m jealous that you could knead every loaf! You must have wonderful arms. And they’ll stay healthy doing that.