Let’s Make Grandkids part of the Team

There is a special bond between grandkids and grandparents. Without the full responsibility for the outcome of their lives, grandparents can be free to take a broader look and just enjoy, while dispensing wisdom born of many years of living and learning. Too often, as grandparents age and become less accessible, kids lose valuable time and shared experience with them. It is important to find ways to encourage quality time and experiences while they can still be enjoyed. This is a time to build memories that will last long after the grandparents are no longer here, as well as enrich the lives of both generations. How valuable and rewarding if each child, regardless of age, can share one hour a week enjoying an activity that is special for both.

If the grandparents are local, they and the grandchild in the family can plan a special activity to share together. If the grandparents live farther away, kids and grandparents can use today’s technology to eliminate the miles and do projects using video and telephone. It is important that each child have their own special time.

My grandson and I collected Thomas the Train back in the day when they were collectibles. I would go to the store in California and call him in Michigan and we would look at our catalogues and have serious discussions about which trains we were still missing and which videos we had watched. Finally, we would decide what to get. When he graduated from college, I happened to be in a store and notice the one train engine that we had not ever found. What a find!! This became part of his graduation gift along with a note that said, as he was now grown, this would probably be the final Thomas the Train engine I would get for him. He seemed to really love it as he still has the whole set in his parents’ basement and we still have the memories.

One family, with 4 teenagers, devotes one hour each week for each child to share an activity with Grandma. One girl has been learning to crochet, a boy plays board games, another girl shares photography she is doing and they critique the photos and plan for new shots, and the other boy shares a walk and is compiling a booklet on the flowers at her assisted living residence.

It is important that the two decide together what they would like to do. In today’s world it can be sharing technology secrets or video games or baking, It doesn’t really matter what they do as long as it is enjoyed and can encourage a sharing of stories and experience. For this family with four kids, this is one hour out of each grandchild’s week but a month of shared experiences for Grandma to look forward to and for each to build a lifetime of memories.