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Fostering Grandparent & Grandchild Relationships

August 3, 2016
lilly-pond-805207_1920 One of the greatest gifts you can provide your children is time to spend with their grandparents. Conversely, one of the greatest gifts you can provide your parents is to spend time with their grandchildren. Fostering relationships between your past and your future provides the opportunity to create irreplaceable memories. Sometimes, this seemingly normal activity requires assistance by another adult who can help to bridge the gap between your elderly loved one’s abilities and your child’s ability to be patient and inquisitive.  BrightStar Care, experts in Orlando home health care, explain how you can help to promote the building of relationships between grandparent and grandchild. In most families, grandparents serve as the keepers of family traditions, family recipes, photos, and family historical data. Imparting this knowledge to you was their first priority, but the opportunity to share this information with another generation is critical to maintaining their feeling of being productive and contributing members of the family dynamic. Research has proven time and again that telling stories and recalling past events provides positive psychological effects on the older individual. It improves cognitive function, can reduce depression, and bolsters their feeling of self-worth. When children are inquisitive and get caught up in the recollections, they are furthering cognitive function and helping to improve expression in their elderly loved one. The takeaway for the children is, hopefully, a long-lasting relationship with their grandparent and the retention of family information that has helped to shape them into the person they are going to be. In families where the grandparent resides in the same home, it’s important to encourage activities that are all-inclusive. Grandma may not be able to actually bowl anymore, but she can tag along to the alley and enjoy the comradery in cheering the family on. It’s also important to allow your children to spend time alone with their grandparent. Let the relationship grow so each of them has the opportunity to learn about one another and enjoy one another without your influence. Children enjoy showing off their knowledge of their favorite sports or hobbies and will eagerly share them with grandparents who display interest. Many grandparents have learned to navigate the Internet as a result of spending time with their grandchild. This opens the door for furthering communication, especially in families where the grandparent doesn’t live with the grandchild. If your elder loved one experiences physical or cognitive limitations, fostering a relationship with a grandchild may take a bit of creativity and the intervention of another family member or trusted friend to be successful. Dependent on individual circumstance, hiring an in-home companion or other skilled Orlando home health care professional through BrightStar Care can help to promote the building of relationships between grandparent and grandchild. BrightStar Care can evaluate the needs of your aging loved one, share a variety of options for care, and help you make the best plan for assisting your family. Call us at 407-877-0720, or contact us online.