How can grandparents help stop the development of depression and anxiety in their young charges? People watching is a favorite activity of mine.
Doing my Christmas shopping at Kirkwood Missouri's Target gave me the perfect opportunity to do this.
A "sociological" study of parents vs.
grandparents became a topic of interest.
Parents typically looked stressed and preoccupied while looking for gifts and shuttling little ones around.
Their children sometimes got the brunt of mom's or dad's frustration.
I saw one young woman with three darling little boys who all had a way of asking mom questions at the same time.
Mom looked a bit worn out.
Grandparents appeared to be having a wonderful time and reflected that back to their grandchildren.
After all, parents have to be concerned about.
1.
Feeding their children.
2.
Clothing them.
3.
Disciplining them.
4.
Having the money to support them.
5.
Raising them to be happy, productive citizens.
They have to take the long view of the process of raising their children.
What will happen to them? Will they get into drugs? Will they turn into happy, productive citizens? These are the questions parents may carry.
Grandparents have a lot more latitude for unconditional love.
Their charges will go home at the end of the day.
They are free to: 1.
Love them no matter what they do.
2.
Spoil them and grant them their every wish.
3.
Lavish gifts on them.
4.
Feed them whatever they want.
5.
Give them lots of pure unadulterated fun.
6.
Be worry free around them.
Grandparents are free of the long view of raising children.
They have already brought their children up.
Now it's time to kick back and enjoy the next generation with no strings attached.
There are no concerns about money, about their college education, about keeping jobs, or about raising children in a challenging society.
Their view is short.
The older generation can love with no worries attached, with no concern for the psychological impact of a short term stay with them, and no thought of where the next meal will come from.
In other words, they are totally in the now with their little charges.
Worries about the future and concerns over the past just do not fit into the picture.
It's an eternal now with their grandchildren.
I found myself wondering how all of us can give this unconditional love and freedom to each other.
How can we give this worry free gift to each other throughout the whole span of our lives? How can we be grandparents to our grandchildren, our families, and our communities And, how can we lovingly support parents in the daunting task of raising their children? It's food for thought.
From Barbara Altman, author of Recovering from Depression, Anxiety, and Psychosis, available on Amazon and Kindle.
Doing my Christmas shopping at Kirkwood Missouri's Target gave me the perfect opportunity to do this.
A "sociological" study of parents vs.
grandparents became a topic of interest.
Parents typically looked stressed and preoccupied while looking for gifts and shuttling little ones around.
Their children sometimes got the brunt of mom's or dad's frustration.
I saw one young woman with three darling little boys who all had a way of asking mom questions at the same time.
Mom looked a bit worn out.
Grandparents appeared to be having a wonderful time and reflected that back to their grandchildren.
After all, parents have to be concerned about.
1.
Feeding their children.
2.
Clothing them.
3.
Disciplining them.
4.
Having the money to support them.
5.
Raising them to be happy, productive citizens.
They have to take the long view of the process of raising their children.
What will happen to them? Will they get into drugs? Will they turn into happy, productive citizens? These are the questions parents may carry.
Grandparents have a lot more latitude for unconditional love.
Their charges will go home at the end of the day.
They are free to: 1.
Love them no matter what they do.
2.
Spoil them and grant them their every wish.
3.
Lavish gifts on them.
4.
Feed them whatever they want.
5.
Give them lots of pure unadulterated fun.
6.
Be worry free around them.
Grandparents are free of the long view of raising children.
They have already brought their children up.
Now it's time to kick back and enjoy the next generation with no strings attached.
There are no concerns about money, about their college education, about keeping jobs, or about raising children in a challenging society.
Their view is short.
The older generation can love with no worries attached, with no concern for the psychological impact of a short term stay with them, and no thought of where the next meal will come from.
In other words, they are totally in the now with their little charges.
Worries about the future and concerns over the past just do not fit into the picture.
It's an eternal now with their grandchildren.
I found myself wondering how all of us can give this unconditional love and freedom to each other.
How can we give this worry free gift to each other throughout the whole span of our lives? How can we be grandparents to our grandchildren, our families, and our communities And, how can we lovingly support parents in the daunting task of raising their children? It's food for thought.
From Barbara Altman, author of Recovering from Depression, Anxiety, and Psychosis, available on Amazon and Kindle.