May 14, 2012 by joyfulpapist
I?ve been quiet over the last few days because I?ve been grandmothering. Eldest Grandchild is convalescing at our place after a nasty dose of streptococci, her brother joined us for the weekend, and two more came for lunch yesterday. Great fun, and certainly far less of a commitment than when the mother of two of them was bedridden while they were babies. It?s a bit of a modern trend. Quite a number of our friends regularly have quasi-, and often more than quasi-, parenting responsibilities for their children?s children.
One child in 10 in the United States now lives with a grandparent or grandparents, with close to 3 million being raised mainly by them ? largely by their grandmothers.
To some extent, what?s happening reflects the upbeat fact that older people live longer and stay healthy longer than they used to. But it?s also linked to troubling trends such as marital breakdown, single parenting, family pressures arising when both parents work outside the home, and the impact of a serious recession. Grandparents time and again have stepped up to relieve stressed-out parents and fill the childcare gap.
The quote above is from an article about ?The Grandmother Exchange?, a programme:
?aimed at three areas of need: 1) relationship issues, particularly how grandmothers can help parents without taking over (?drawing the line between support and meddling?); 2) self-care ? protecting themselves against the demands of children who imagine their mothers have nothing else to do except look after their kids (?we need to have a life ? friends, work, travel of our own?); 3) teaching grandchildren virtues (?again, without interfering?).
Happy Grandparents? Decade, all.
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
kim jong un josh powell madonna halftime show linsanity the alamo anencephaly tesla model x
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.