Having the chance to grow up with your grandparents’ presence and wisdom is among the greatest privileges in life. The love, support and advice they can offer are precious in any child’s life, but it’s often easy to unfairly dismiss their outdated ways and take their offerings for granted. In that way, you miss out on the vast wealth of experience and knowledge, and you fail to appreciate their unconditional affection.
You may not have an ideal relationship with your grandparents, perhaps due to losing touch, family disagreements or differences of opinion. Whatever your situation may be, if you feel genuine affection for them, these are the ways you show them you care about them and celebrate your relationship.
Phone them
Phone Them. Photo courtesy pexels.com
If you live far apart, phoning your grandparents is the best way to keep in touch. It seems quite easy to do, but we still often lack time and allow it to slip by without making the smallest effort. As time passes, the distance grows, making you hesitate even more to establish and maintain contact.
Phoning your grandparents for a video chat doesn’t have to mean a three-hour session. It is about reaching out and showing them you care. As you make it a habit, you’ll learn more about their life routine and preferences, so your conversations will be possibly shorter but more substantial and satisfactory for both sides.
Visit them
Make them something special. Photo courtesy pexels.com
If you live closer by, make it imperative to go out and visit them as often as you can, especially if going out for them is not a viable option due to their advanced age or health issues. You can pick certain dates in a month and make it a regular thing. Every time you go, bring something with you to spice up your visit – a deck of cards, a board game, a box of chocolates, your own children, or a friend so you can all have a fun afternoon in. It’s not as fun as the other options, but you can also accompany them to check out this dentist in Vienna and their other doctors if they’re scheduled to do so on your visit.
Take them out
Taking your grandparents out is a special treat for them, particularly if they don’t practice it often by themselves. Decide to spoil them a bit so book a table at their favourite restaurant, or take them to a picnic spot they visited as a young couple. Check out your local area and see what is on, and pick something you will all enjoy. There are probably many options like going to the cinema, the theatre, a concert, or even a comedy night. Just make sure you consult them on the matter so you understand better what is it that they really enjoy doing, because, after all, it’s about spoiling them!
Make them something special
Even a limited budget shouldn’t stop you from surprising your grandparents with a token of your affection and appreciation. As people age, they care less about material possessions and become much more emotional and sentimental. So, the gifts you can make for them needn’t be expensive or luxurious, but rather a demonstration of your bond. Think in terms of creating a memory book with family photos and handwritten memories of all family members. And if there aren’t any fresh photos to include, you can hire a professional photographer who does excellent family portraits, so you can have a great afternoon at a studio having fun family photo sessions after which you’ll have the best moments immortalized in pictures.
Plan a family gathering
Plan a family gathering. Photo courtesy pexels.com
With time, the older generations tend not to collect as many memories as they used to do when they were younger. It’s mostly due to living apart from the rest of the family or their deteriorating health. This can make your grandparents feel they’ve lost the connection with the rest of the family and intensify their feeling of loneliness. The best thing you can do is plan family gatherings so you can all reconnect and make new memories together.
Bringing your entire family together to celebrate the life of your grandparents is a wonderful thing to do, regardless of where you live. It will strengthen the family bonds even more and create room for new traditions in the future. To make it a bit easier on yourself, you can ask everyone to bring a dish, and a memory they would like to share with everyone, and that’s something that will undoubtedly have everyone laughing as they reminisce.
It’s a wonderful thing to spend time with an older generation and learn from their life experiences. Having grandparents in your life who give you undivided attention and unlimited love is a privilege, but we often forget they’re only human and need attention as well. Giving back to them, even something small can bring a lot of happiness in their life.
