The thing is that the Constitution of the United States speaks to Parents’ Rights in three different places but nary a mention of Grandparents’ rights. This is probably due to two different factors. The children are the children of their parents, not their Grandparents. Please don’t shoot the messenger, especially if you have been instrumental in their raising. The second reason may be the time the constitution was written. In the late 1700s, the life expectancy was around 43 years old, and the divorce rate was near 1%, so Grandparents’ rights were not top of mind in the frames.
When it comes to having rights, it is incumbent upon you to be the captain of this ship. Grandparents’ first profound mistake is that they confuse the need to be right about how unfair the other spouse has been with their child and express that instead of keeping the communications open about being “Allowed” to Love on those Grandbabies. The single most important thing is to keep your eye on the goal of visitation rights instead of your own need to be right about past events.
Please know that I have and continue to hear some very unfair stories regarding Grandparents not being able to visit with and, in some cases, talk with or send gifts to their Grandkids. It breaks my heart, but my heart is not the point; the point is that I want to help as many Grandparents to Love on and spend time with these deserving beautiful youngins”.
Thank You for being a Caring Grandparent.
One of the tenets of my Dale Carnegie training is that we should speak in…