Why Grandmas Matter

As a grandma, you are in good company. In a 2019 University Of Michigan poll, fifty-four percent of adults age 50–80 identified themselves as grandparents and most said they had grandchildren under the age of 18.

Sixty-four percent of the grandparents said they care for their grandchildren at least monthly. Are you one of them?

Intuitively you know that you are important to the well-being of your grandchildren. A 2008 Oxford study scientifically confirmed it. This study, conducted in England and Wales, analyzed the responses of 1596 eleven to sixteen-year-olds and in-depth interviews with forty children.

The Oxford Study Findings

Grandparents have more time than working parents to support children in their activities.

Grandparents are available to talk with children about problems they may be having and were important in weathering negative life events like parents separating.

Maternal grandmothers often provide significant levels of child care.

The children welcomed the involvement of their grandparents. They did not view physical proximity as important because technology made access easier. The frequency of contact and the health of the grandparents were important influencing factors.

What Does It Mean for Grandmas?

To me, the most important finding is that we have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our grandchildren.  Grandmas matter. I’m sad to say, I only had the opportunity to know one of my grandmothers and while she passed away when I was in my late teens, I still hold the warmth of her memory in my heart. She grounded me and showed me my roots.

In contrast, my sons grew up with all four of their grandparents. We have lost three of them in the past few years, but it gives me great comfort to know my sons have many memories of them.

Secondly, I take comfort in the finding that children from ages eleven to sixteen welcomed their grandparents in their lives. Those can be challenging years for children and their parents.

Finally, kids said the frequency of contact was more important than proximity. Thankfully, we do have technology that makes it easy for us to engage meaningfully with our grandkids, even across the miles.

Hopefully, this will give some comfort to all of us who are temporarily distanced from our grandkids due to the pandemic and to the many grandmas who are separated from their grandchildren by geography. Let’s not let this distance get in our way of connecting. Remember, the frequency of contact is more important than the distance in determining our effectiveness.

Here at Grandmas Making Memories, we encourage frequent contact with grandkids, starting when your grandchildren are babies. Video calls are your friend. Sing a song. Tell a story. Make funny faces and sounds.

As grandkids grow your opportunity to engage will grow, too. You’ll have more chances to teach, share values, and to share your personal story.

This holiday season will be a challenge for many of us. With a little creativity, you can still make it memorable. We may find it hard to change things up a bit, but we can do it.

Let's start with a little silliness for Thanksgiving.

We've been posting Thanksgiving jokes on our Facebook page. Share those with your grandkids.

• Tell a joke when they don't expect it during a video call.
• Print the joke from our Facebook page. Write a little note on it and put it in the mail. Kids love to get snail mail.
• Print all of the jokes and staple them together into a little booklet. Mail or give it to your grandkids with a little note written inside and a memento of Thanksgiving 2020.

By now you probably know we love books at Grandmas Making Memories. We also love that Amazon ships great books quickly to our grandkids. Here are some Thanksgiving books you can send now. (affiliate links)

For One to Three-Year-Olds

A fun counting book.



For Three to Five-Year-Olds

An introduction to Thanksgiving.

 

For Five to Seven-Year-Olds

A turkey in disguise?

For Eight to Ten-Year-Olds

(A chapter book)

A trip back in time to 1691.

For Ten to Twelve-Year-Olds

A book of myths, lies, and secrets.

However you choose to connect with your grandkids for Thanksgiving, remember you matter.

Sources:
University of Oxford. "Grandma And Grandpa Are Good For Children." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 7 June 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080605091358.htm>.

Singer D, Solway E, Kirch M, Kullgren J, Malani P. Safely Storing Medication Around Grandchildren. University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. July/August 2019. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/149650