THE BOND BETWEEN GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDKIDS

It is indeed a wonderful thing to have strong grandparental influence in our lives.  I have vivid and lovely memories of my Mom's Mom, Nanny.  She had purple hair (although lilac would be more accurate), was always beautifully dressed, wore pearls and had a lovely tinkly chuckle.  I really only knew her up until I turned 9 years old, after which time we moved to another country. We loved to go to her house when we were very small and play checkers.  One day I put one of the little game balls in my mouth and discovered we were playing with candy!!!!  Funny, the things you remember. Unfortunately, I never really knew my other grandmother or either of my grandfathers.

I love being a grandparent.  My husband and I enjoy spending time with them.  We 'Ooh' and 'Aah' at all the things they proudly show us.  We try to keep up with them when they play in the park or ride their bicycles and we join in when they build Lego towers and such.  Although we have grandchildren in two countries, we do see our far away grandkids on Skype and in pictures.  Thanks to Face Book we are up to date with most of their adventures and we see them personally for about a month every year.

GRANDPARENTS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CHILDREN'S LIVES:
You remember Little Red Riding Hood?

"Oh, Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"

1. Grandparents are observant.

•  We see when our kids need a break from their children for a while.
•  We watch the grandkids play and watch over them when they sleep over.
•  We observe when our grandkids are happy and when they are sad or troubled.

"Oh, Grandmother, what big ears you have!"

2. Grandparents listen.

• We have the time to listen to their stories and their adventures.
• We offer emotional support by being 'a soft place for our grandchildren to land' and to talk over concerns they may have. 
• We offer physical support by being there when parents cannot be. 

3. Grandparents are role models and trainers.

•  We show by example and train from experience.
•  We help them make wise decisions. 
•  We confirm the values that our grandkids are being taught by their parents.

For much more helpful information on the greatness of grandparenting, check out our free EBook of the same title, by going to the top left side of our blog home page and clicking on 'Special Offer' Free E Booklets.

Written by Sally Burgess, Forefront Families