6 reasons a child’s bond with their grandparents is important

photo credit: Tracy VanDam

My kids have been fortunate enough to have their grandparents actively involved in their lives since birth. The bond that they have is unbreakable. Growing up, I was close with my grandparents as well, but our relationship was nothing compared to that of my kids and their grandparents. Technology has played a big roll in their relationship, as we are all a plane ride away, or long drive away from one another. Regardless of how the bond is achieved they really do make a huge impact on the lives of my children. They are there to guide and give my children knowledge that we as their parents can’t provide. Sometimes these relationships are hard to maintain especially when we get caught up in our busy day-to-day lives but a relationship that a child has with their grandparents really is invaluable.

Here are 6 reasons why children should maintain a strong bond with their grandparents:

1. It teaches your children to love unconditionally. The love we have for our family members, including grandparents, is unconditional. The closer we are to those family members the more we learn about loving and accepting people for who they are.

2. They can teach your children about family history. My grandparents taught me so much about our family and made me appreciate my life and the things I have when they would share the stories of their childhood growing up in India. They are even the ones that taught me how to speak our language because it was all they spoke. I see the same thing with kids and their grandparents and I think it is great. My kids get so excited learning more about our culture and hearing stories about when their grandparents were kids.

3. Life lessons. Sometimes it’s hard for us as parents to reach our children when teaching them certain things. Having grandparents around is great because sometimes they can act as a second parent or the voice of reason when your children don’t want to listen to you. They may have a better approach and let’s face it a lot more life experience that they can share.

4. Patience: Having my grandparents around really taught me how to be patient, especially as they got older. It has taught me that in life we need to slow down and take in those special moments with our loved ones because they aren’t going to be around forever. I really see this with my kids as they interact with my in-laws. They are a little bit older than my parents and it really amazes me how patient my kids can be. I wish they would be like that with me! J

5. It helps them learn the value of maintaining important relationships. My kids talk to my mom at least a few times a week usually on FaceTime (got to love technology). They ask to talk to her because they want to tell her how their day went or talk to her about what they are learning in school. Talking to her on a regular basis helps them miss her less in-between visits and it maintains the bond that can sometimes suffer when distance is a factor. If your children don’t often communicate with their grandparent’s in-between visits, you could look for various cell phones designed with seniors in mind so they are able to talk to their grandchildren as well as any friends they may still have, old age can be very lonely!

6. It makes you as a parent happy: I am so close with my parents so I love that my kids have a special bond with them too. When my mom and my in-laws come to visit they take the kids outdoors to play ball, the park and also make their favorite foods! We as parents can do this with our children all the time but there is something special about sharing the things we love to do with our grandparents.

The importance of a bond with your grandparents is one that cannot be replaced. We have to enjoy them while they are here and learn as much as we can from them so we can pass that information on for generations to come.