The Loving support for a child is magnified when it comes from Grandma and/or Grandpa. Most kids can count on their parents loving them and lots of them know their Grandparents love them as well. The magic is when they are made to feel special by your showing up at things like plays and sporting events. We all crave love and approval and in the case of our grandkids they are like a vacuum cleaner when it comes to taking it in. We have the power to not only help them to feel they matter, we can easily make them feel special.
It is this “Significant adult other than parent” that adds value to our little ones. In our family one of my children will alert me to an opportunity to underscore an accomplishment or special event in my grandchildrens lives. I encourage this dialogue so that I don’t miss any chance to affirm them. The added value to this is that you are asking their parents for help in creating a good atmosphere for their children. The term win-win comes to mind.
I always encourage conversation between Grandparents and Parents and this is a good way to keep that line of communication open. In some cases that communication is not so easy. A way to find out information is to peruse your grandchilds facebook page for what is going on in their lives. One admonition is that unless you understand everything there is to know about kids and social media, please don’t just post some, what you think is cute, comment on their page. I advocate for the USPS and a hand written note, or a phone call. My personal understanding of kids and social media is that it is like their lunch table at school. Most Grandparents wouldn’t fit in well there. Just a thought.
Thank You for being a Caring Grandparent. Grandpa NEIL