You want your children to get to know their grandparents well, with the hopes that an unbreakable bond between them will develop. To assist in getting them closer, the following techniques will have them well on their way to being the best of companions:
Tell Them Happy Stories of Your Childhood
Relate all the fun and happy times you had with your parents and grandparents when you were a child. Show them videos and photos of all the things you did and the activities you engaged in. Recreate some of them, and include all of your children and their grandparents for a truly nostalgic experience.
Set An Example
Develop your own special relationship with your parents and grandparents. Establishing a strong and loving bond with your own relatives will set the stage for your children’s relationships. Communicate often, treat them with respect, and include them on family gatherings to show your family just how important these individuals are to you, and your offspring will do likewise.
Use the U.S. Mail
Everyone loves getting mail. Encourage them to write little notes and create artwork that they can send to their grandparents, even if they live just across town. Grandparents can then, in turn, send back small toys and puzzles, as well as notes and pictures. This ongoing exchange can create an unbelievable bond and provides the children with such a sense of expectation and anticipation, with the additional benefit of teaching your children how to compose and send letters.
Skype
Use your computer screen as a main source of communication between your children and their grandparents. Set up specific times during the week that they can interact and discuss their activities and school events. They will begin to look forward to these conversations and will assist in making them lively and entertaining. If the grandparents need some help setting up the webcam, enlist any tech-savvy older children to play tech support. This will help the generations bond over both the discovery of new technology and the helpfulness your children demonstrate. Include the entire family in these Skype exchanges, and use this to relay family news and details of upcoming activities.
Make Holidays Special
A senior care specialist with an aging degree recommends taking your young children to visit with their grandparents often, to foster a familiar relationship during their formative years. Holidays are a perfect time for this. Always include all grandparents in holiday plans, and do your best to make them guests of honor. Ask them to tell stories, serve them their meals first, and allow them to open the very first gifts. In other words, demonstrate to your young ones how to honor and cherish their elders.
The use of the above will help create strong lifelong bonds between the most important individuals in your life. You will want to have this type of relationship with your very own grandchildren when they arrive, and you will if you set these suggestions in motion.
