Life is Complicated,
Family Life is a
Multiple of
Complicated
and Extended
Family Life
is Exponentially
Complicated.
I count my blessings each day that I get to interact with my Grandchildren freely. This just didn’t happen on its own. I am very intentional about extended family dynamics and do all I can to create a family culture of inclusion. This article does not intend to address the various “How we got here scenarios”; many Sociologists are working on that, but I think we must bring this issue front and center. In one of my Grandparenting books, I stated it this way; “Life is complicated, family life is a multiple of complicated and extended family life is exponentially complicated.” It is less important to study the history of this calamity than to concentrate our efforts on the best interest of our and others’ Grandchildren. There is no abundance of resources for these families, but the environment is slowly improving. A Caring Grandparent who searches can find some help with the challenges of their “Second Parenthood Venture.”
There are many reasons for these circumstances, but the net result is that, according to the US Census, more than 13 million children live in homes with their grandparents. Some of these homes have at least one of the parents present but are usually in a state of parental challenge due to a long list of factors.
The big reason is addiction, physical abuse, incarceration, extreme poverty, etc. Regardless of the reasons, the Grandchildren must be considered first and foremost.
These factors place some 2.3 million Grandparents back in the role of being responsible for raising these kids. Even more alarming is that of these 13 million Grandchildren, about one-third are younger than 6. This points to the breadth of this marathon of giving these precious young human beings a fighting chance at a meaningful and well-adjusted life.
If you are blessed not to fall into these statistics, I encourage you to find other grandparents who do and offer them SUPPORT. While there are efforts we can put forth to help prevent some of these dire situations, we can certainly empathize with those who are thrust into these roles of caregivers.
As a “Great, Great Grandpa” now, I value the future that our Grandkids are. My goal is to stay as connected as I can with my Grands and help as many other Grandparents become as Great as they can at being Grandpa and/or Grandma.
Thanks for being a Caring Grandparent.