If your kids have grandparents, make sure they spend more time with them. Establishing a bond with grandparents can be beneficial for every child in many ways.
My beloved grandma passed away a few days ago. She was my dear granny – the last one I had. Her death meant I will be no grand-daughter anymore. No one would ever call me that.
You may wonder why I’ve decided to write this story, an ode to all the grandparents in our life. It is because my grandparents played a crucial role in my early life, and they encouraged my healthy development.
I never went to kindergarten. Actually I refused to go there. However, my mom and dad being so thoughtful and caring, let me stay with my grandparents until I was old enough to start school. Now, as a grown-up I do realize that it’s not so good for children to stay just with grandparents all the time, and not attend kindergarten. While spending time with the family is great, spending time with the peers is incredibly important for our social and emotional development. But, I will write about this on another occasion.
Now let’s get back to the story I began with.
My grandfathers taught me how to play chess. I became truly fond of this game when I was little and I went into great efforts to instill the love of chess to my kids too. My grandfather Ivan helped me to remember the multiplication and division table, how to sew on a button, and other cool stuff. My grandfather Aca taught me how to solve crosswords. Thanks to him and my wonderful granny Marica I’ve also got my first library card. They taught me nursery rhymes and songs, took me to the children’s theatre, tried to instill in me the love of art. They taught me how to behave, how to act like a lady, to know good table manners.
“First wash your hands in the bathroom and then you can come to the table to eat”.
I remember those words as if they were said to me just yesterday.
My grandma Rosa, who came from Dalmatia, taught us – her grandchildren – practical life skills. Thanks to her we learned how to distance ourselves from negative people and to be surrounded by good ones, as well as how to recognize cheaters and liars. These stories seemed so funny to us then, perhaps because my granny used a great deal of humor while telling them. We all felt so loved and protected in her arms. There is nothing more important than that feeling for a little child. I still feel her embrace – warm and tender.
I remember every park where I played with my grandparents, our summer holidays spent at the seaside, ice-creams we enjoyed so much, my knees full of scrapes and scratches, quarrels with my brothers and sisters, and great efforts our grandparents took to calm us down and settle our “disputes”. I remember the happiness we all shared gathered as a family to celebrate our birthdays.
It was only my grandma Marica who got to live long enough to welcome her great-grandchildren into the world. She took care of them with the same endless love and affection she raised me and my sister Ivana. She knew everything that was happening in their lives: the marks they got at school, when they were having their tests and exams, important football games to play, the goals they scored, when they were sick, their school trips… Her presence enriched their childhood in so many ways and made it much happier.
My tip to the parents: if your kids have grandparents, make sure they spend more time together. Establishing a bond with grandparents can be beneficial for every child in so many ways:
- they will treasure special moments they spend with their grandma and grandpa deep in their hearts.
- they will build so many unforgettable memories to last them a lifetime
- each time they remember grandparents they will awake the most beautiful feelings. And isn’t life all about those great feelings?
If your kids don’t have grandparents, then be sure to tell them all about your family history so they can get to know them. Tell them what they were doing and how they lived their lives, how they tried to make their dreams come true and how they fought for their values and ideals.
I’m sure love and affection of our grandparents has helped all of us to become better people. Their feelings for us have shaped our hearts and souls, making them the purest and greatest parts of our inner personalities. That’s why our grandparents will live in our hearts forever.
