Lasting Meaningful Connections With Your Grandchildren

This is the holy grail for Grandparents, from those first magical moments of holding your child’s child to attending their college graduation and all the wonderful moments between and beyond.

Paramount to success is partnering with the parents of your Grandkids. No matter where you are in this journey as a Grandparent, this is fundamental to being around for your Grandchild’s grown-up stuff. If you are a new Grandparent, you are doubly blessed. You are getting in on the ground floor, and you have more tools in your toolbox to make this extended family thing work. If you have been at it for a while, and maybe there have been some bumps in the road, there is still hope for you.

This first step may be a small step for some or it may be a giant leap for others. Regardless of where you stand, it doesn’t change the fact that the most important thing we can do as Grandparents is to find a way to pass the mantle.

We must pass the mantle of responsibility for these precious Grandchildren to those who are now in charge, their parents. We must recognize that these are THEIR children, not ours. If you skip this crucial step, your odds are greatly diminished that you will last until graduation. Finding what they are doing right and affirming that is helpful beyond measure to supercharge your staying power. There are many other things you can do to prolong these connections with your Grandchildren, but this is where the rubber hits the road. The most effective resource for Grandparents is Grandparentsacademy.com. There, you will find like-minded folks doing nothing but the best for their Grandchildren.

Now to make your connections Meaningful to your Grandchildren. You will learn that the further you move past good intentions and the closer you get to your Grandkid's interests, the better the outcome. I recently read about a skill that fits our mission.

“There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen-to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood.”

This is from the great book “HOW TO KNOW A PERSON” by David Brooks. David is one of the nation’s leading writers and commentators. This idea of knowing a person is especially true as our Grandkids grow up. I advocate meeting them where they are, not necessarily where we wish them to be.

Our connection methods are as varied as the number of our Grandchildren. I have a friend who is Grandpa to 22 Grandkids. He employs 15 different handshakes with them. These are unique connections, for sure. Our methods are primarily age-dependent, but keeping the connections vibrant over the long haul takes intentionality.

We are blessed with the technology to stay connected over vast distances. What magic is it to read a book with your Grandchild on video over long distances, or to watch a TikTok video with your teen Grandchild. There is even a website dedicated to long-distance Grandparents. It is called thelongdistancegrandparent.com. I believe that grandparents are even more crucial in this time of sociological change. We must walk and learn in lockstep so that we are not left behind. Since you have read this far into this article, I am sure you are part of the solution.

Thank You for being a Caring Grandparent.