Grandparents play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren as role models, mentors, caregivers, and friends. The non-judgemental, unconditional acceptance of a grandparent creates a special bond that children treasure. This special bond is fallow ground for teaching and learning. There is no limitation to what grandparents can teach their grandchildren.
Family History and Traditions
There are no better storytellers than experienced storytellers, and no better stories than the ones that involve your grandchildren’s parents, aunts and uncles. You Grandchildren will love to hear about the rain dance ceremony their parents used to put on in the driveway whenever it got cloudy so they could splash in the puddles, or how you used to theme their Halloween costumes and their dad was always the odd man out: a fire hydrant when the other three were Dalmatians, or a peanut when they were Elephants.
How to Make Paper Dolls, Paper Airplanes and Home-Made Sailboats
Children today grow up with non-stop media: television, computers and video games. Many children have never played with paper dolls or learned how to make a paper airplane or create a sailboat out of wood, a straw and a handkerchief. Grandparents can teach their grandchildren that yesterday’s toys are still great fun to play with today.
That When Somebody Wrongs You, It’s Best to Turn the Other Cheek
Grandparents can have a moral influence on their grandchildren. When the grandchildren are facing a difficult situation, grandparents can guide them into reasoned choices and help them to grant forgiveness.
How to Bake Cookies and Do Other Fun Things
I taught my grandchildren how to bake cookies, and this was one of the biggest highlights of their little lives. They cracked eggs and measured and stirred. They rolled out dough and cut out stars, Santas, angels and reindeer. Once the cookies were baked, they decorated them with sugars and frosting. Yum!
To Respect People
We strive to instill the value of respect for self and for others. My oldest grandson’s parents are divorced and remarried and we always demonstrate love and compassion to his father and stepmother, even when he is frustrated with them, and even though sometimes our daughter does not understand. We explain that he is part of his mom and his dad and that we love all parts of him and that means all parts of them. We also teach our grandchildren that acceptance begins within yourself, and to truly love and respect others, you must love yourself.
To Use Resources Wisely
This is a chance for you to show your grandchild that you can Go Green too. We recycle, we use the backyard to teach about sustenance living by growing our own fruits, herbs and vegetables and incorporating them into our cooking. We make games out of saving electricity and water. This is fun as well as a great life lesson.
To Save for a Rainy Day
We are very fortunate and are able to spoil our grandchildren. We do on occasion give them gifts and money, but we always impress upon them saving for a rainy day and having financial goals. We talk about what they want to save their money for and how they will achieve the amount of money needed for big ticket items… and we never accept “wait for Papa to buy it” as an answer.
That They Belong
Grandparents have a special chance to teach their grandchildren that they always have somewhere to go, and that they are an invaluable contributor to a greater group of people. I keep a room in my house just for the grandkids, it is decorated with the things that are important to them. My oldest grandson, who is twelve, has been known to tell his mom he has three houses: hers, his dad’s and ours.
That They are Special
We all have bad days, disappointments, and times when we are frustrated. But knowing there are people in the world who think you are amazing is what keeps us going when times are tough. My grandson’s artwork was featured at a school art show. When we came home, we had an auction to determine who got to keep that special picture, of course Papa outbid even mom for that honor. We have hung the artwork in his office for all to see how very talented and special our grandson is. Even years later he smiles at the memory of how badly everyone wanted that picture, and just because he drew it.
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