Being a great grandparent is something of a balancing act. You need to be an understanding, supportive parent to your own children, as well as being supportive and loving to the grandchildren too.

As a parent to your own children, the temptation is always present to tell your kids what to do, correct them when you feel they’re wrong, and disregard or disrespect their wishes. All of these actions will only serve to annoy, irritate, and possibly alienate them from you though. And if your adult children are alienated from you, it will be next to impossible to have a relationship with your grandchildren.

Grandparenting can seem a little tricky at times though. Sometimes it may seem as if the children only know you and are polite to you, but they’re not really connecting with you on a personal level. This feeling increases as the grandchildren become teenagers too, because they tend to become more interested in spending time with their friends instead of family and adults. There are things you can do to help create excellent relationships with your grandchildren though, so lets look at some of the best grandparenting tips.

Grandparenting can be fun. As a grandparent, you often get to spend time with your grandkids doing fun and enjoyable things. Try to do this as often as possible, but make sure you’re doing things both of you enjoy. If you have a teenage grandchild who enjoys sports for instance, you could spend quality time together watching sports events on TV, or taking a day to actually go to an event together.

If you have teenage grandchildren who enjoy movies or going to the mall, and you like these activities too, then by all means try to schedule time out for the two of you to do these activities together.

When your grandchild is a baby, simply spend time with them by offering to babysit, feed or change them. Also play peek a boo, or sit down on the floor and play with them and their toys.

Children love hearing stories too, and a wonderful way to enjoy some quality grandparenting time is to read the child stories, or make up stories of your own. These can even be stories which actually include the grandchild as a primary charactor.

Being a great grandparent isn’t usually about asking questions. In fact, some grandchildren feel as if they’re being grilled or interviewed when all you do is ask them questions everytime you see them. Try spending quality time together instead. Often the best grandparenting tip you can get is to simply be there for them. Enjoy going to the zoo, helping them learn and experience new things, and make fun memories for them to treasure throughout life.

By participating in the things your grandchildren enjoy, you will be able to spend quality time together and they will be thrilled each time they’re coming to see you again. You can use this time together just for togetherness, or to pass on knowlege, skills and experience too.

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