Tips for maintaining a long-distance relationship with grandparents
Tips for maintaining a long-distance relationship with grandparents

One of the fondest memories of my childhood was spending time with my grandparents and today I am grateful to God for that. Not only did I get to play games with them but I also got to hear new bedtime stories every night.

Only when the little ones spend time with their grandparents will they learn that they serve as arbitrators, stress buffers, supporters, guardians and family roots. The bond that grandparents have with their grandmothers is a special emotional bond, which is one of them. The help that our parents receive from their grandparents is sometimes inattentive and sometimes even dissenting.

So, if you live away from your parents for work or other reasons and your kids don’t get time to bond with their grandparents in any way. Below are tips on how you can help your kids maintain a healthy long-distance relationship with their grandparents.

Come to them one by one.

1) Make your visit frequent

If you live in the same city, make sure you take your kids to visit their grandchildren and grandmothers more often, and if you live in another city or country, plan to visit with them during the summer break or on long weekends. In addition to these, you can encourage their grandparents to plan a visit or stay in your place for a long time.

2) Technology makes it easy to stay in touch

It has become very easy to keep in touch with the advancement of technology. You can set facetime, skype or video calls with your grandparents by setting a specific day and time for your kids in a week so that the kids have something to look forward to. In addition, children can exchange e-mails, pictures, voice notes (including bedtime stories and rhymes) or texts with their grandparents.

3) Surprise them when they expect it

Grandparents like to humiliate their grandchildren. Every time they go to meet them, they make sure to surprise them with gifts. What you can do differently is to surprise them by occasionally sending gifts by mail, instead of giving them as gifts on the occasion. Top gift options are sending cookies, their favorite gadgets, photo collages or it could just be a letter. This way they will feel more connected and loved.

4) More simultaneous communication

When grandparents meet, then encourage your child to spend time together with the grandmother in the kitchen while she prepares a family recipe, as this will help make the conversation flow more freely.
Asking grandparents to read the story sometimes makes some meaningful conversations even more enlightening.

5) Friendly relationship

Grandparents act as a bridge between parents and children. There is so much pressure on parents to do everything and children to learn everything perfectly. The pressures of being the best parent range from teaching their children how to talk, walk, behave, etc. As grandparents, you can teach your grandchildren to your grandchildren without any burden of being perfect parents. You can act as a friend to them and, for example, guide them in the right direction with the right steps towards their hobbies, teaching them how to face competition and how to be positive.

Final word:

Grandmam and Grandad have experiences to tell in the form of stories. Moreover, these are storehouses of inspirational stories of beautiful life that no child should deny. So nostalgic, I feel right now! What are your strongest memories from the childhood of your grandparents?