Grandparents are a very important figure for our children. Together with parents and siblings they are the most significant people in their lives because of the care, pampering, values and teachings they transmit.
It is very subjective to measure the happiness of a person, but according to a study in which almost 1600 children between 11 and 16 years old from all over England and Wales participated, children who grow up near their grandparents are happier.
The author of the investigation notes that “Children who interact with their grandparents daily are happier”. And adds: "We have found that close relationships between grandparents and grandchildren serve as a buffer for the effects of adverse events in life, such as separation from parents, because these relationships calm children and give them security.".
My daughters have been growing away from their grandparents. But just far physically. Today we have means that allow us to be in contact even if we live thousands of kilometers away. But it is true, you lose a lot of everyday life, the first tooth, the first words, the first steps, birthdays, and even the most everyday as looking for them at school, taking a walk hand in hand ... All that is lost.
We try to travel or for them to travel so that grandparents and granddaughters can share together as much as possible, but it is always less than we all would like. Upon seeing a concentrated dose of pampering and experiences that are treasured in memory until the next meeting. Meanwhile, phone calls and videoconferences help a lot to shorten distances.
If my daughters are less happy for not being close to their grandparents, I don't think so. I wish they could enjoy more, of course. May they enrich themselves with experiences lived with their grandparents and they with their tenderness, with the satisfaction of seeing them grow. But life was like that, and I also think it is important to convey that you can be happy with what you have at your fingertips.
They do not live with the feeling that they are missing something because their grandparents, although far away, are present. To counteract it, they learned to find happiness in the people around them, in their parents as parents and grandparents, in their sisters, in their uncles and in friends who have become part of the family.
Surely, many of your children also have their grandparents away. I would like to share experiences. What do you do to keep them present in the lives of your children? Do you think that children who grow up near their grandparents are happier?
