At Grandkids Matter, we’re starting a new habit: We want to be more intentional about gathering wisdom and insights from you, the faithful grandparents who are doing your very best for the coming generations. Then we’ll share them—often anonymously—with other grandparents. It involves a simple question:
What is the most important thing you do as a grandparent?
There are probably no wrong answers here. Surely we’ll receive very similar answers again and again, and that’s okay. Each person’s response will be highly influenced by his or her circumstances and opportunities. We’re sharing them because we know many of you will identify with the heartfelt responses from other grandparents and, we hope, be inspired to keep up the good work with your grandkids.
We start this week with “Kristi,” who has one young granddaughter. When Kristi heard the question, she was almost immediately emotional and had to pause for a few seconds to gather herself. Then she put a hand on her heart and said,
“Just love them…”
“They are so precious,” she continued. “They need our love more than anything.”
Then, like many grandparents whose hearts are overflowing, she couldn’t stop with just one thought. “Also be there for them,” she added. “And be an example of strong faith.”
Unconditional love is such a great way to describe the grandparenting experience. They say parenting is like having your heart walking around outside your body. Maybe grandparenting takes that dynamic to the next level, where the children we have loved so much and for so long now have little pieces of their hearts walking around and experiencing life. It’s a dynamic that has so much potential for deep, magical emotions—and sometimes painful ones.
As grandparents, often our love is different from just about everyone else’s in our grandkids’ lives. There are very few expectations or strings attached. We’ve been around long enough to know that life is short and it’s important to seize the moments and leave nothing unsaid or undone. We want to make positive impressions on our grandkids and leave a legacy of affirmation and encouragement.
And, as Kristi mentioned, our love motivates us to make our grandkids a high priority so that we’re there for them as often as possible, and we invest in their lives in ways that will make a lasting difference, such as living out our values and our faith in front of them.
Grandparents, let your heart motivate and inspire you to do your best.
Let your pride and appreciation and love show, even as you balance those emotions with wisdom gained from life’s experiences.
How do you show love to your grandkids? Let it overflow with other grandparents on our Facebook page here.
