Tips for Maintaining a Long-Distance Relationship With Grandparents

One of the favourite memories of my childhood was spending time with my grandparents and today I feel so grateful to God for that. Not only I got to play games with them but I also got to hear new bedtime stories every night.

Only when little ones spend time with their grandmom and grandad, they will get to know that they act as an arbitrator, stress buffers, supporters, guardian and roots of the family. The bond that grandparents have with their grandkids is a special emotional bond, which is one of its kind. The support that our parents get from grandparents sometimes goes unnoticed and sometimes unappreciated as well.

So, if you are living far from your parents because of work or other reasons and your kids somehow don't get time to bond with their grandparents. Then following are the tips how you can help your kiddiewinks in maintaining a healthy long-distance relationship with their grandfather and grandmother.

Let's get to them one by one.

1) Make your visits frequent

If you are living in the same city, then make sure that you take your children to visit their grandmom and grandad more often and in case you live in some other city or country then plan to visit them during summer breaks or during long weekends. Other than this, you can also encourage their grandparents to plan visits or for a long stay at your place.

2) Technology makes staying in touch easier

With the advancement of technology keeping in touch has become very easy. You can make your kids FaceTime, Skype or Video call with their grandmom and grandad by fixing particular days and time in a week so that kids have something to look forward to. Besides these, kids can exchange e-mails, pictures, voice notes (including bedtime stories and rhymes) or texts with their grandma and grandpa.

3) Surprise them when they least expect it

Grandparents love pampering their grandkids. Every time they go to visit them, they make sure to surprise them with gifts. What you can do different is instead of gifting them on the usual occasion, surprise them by sending gifts through mails un-occasionally. Top gifting options are sending cookies, their favorite gadget, a collage of pictures or it can simply be a letter. This way they will feel more connected and loved.

4) More one-on-one communication

When grandkids or grandparents visit, then encourage your kid spending one-on-one time with grandma in the kitchen by helping her while she is preparing some family recipe, as this will help the conversation flow more freely.

Besides this asking granddad to read stories will lead to some meaningful conversation sometimes even enlightening.

5) Friendly Relationship

Grandparents act as a bridge between the parents and kids. Parents have so much of the pressure of doing everything and making kids learn everything perfectly. The pressure of being the best parents starts from making their kids learn how to talk, walk, behave, etc. As grandparents, you can teach your grandkids without any burden of being perfect at parenting. This way you can act as their friend and guide them the right way with every right step for instance, in their hobbies, teaches them how to face the competition and how to be positive.

6). Write an old-fashioned letter.

Long-distance grandchildren will appreciate the novelty of receiving a hand-written letter in the mail and may even be coaxed to reply in kind. This is an opportunity for you to bring the past to life by telling stories and giving your grandchildren a better sense of their generational place in the family. They may also learn something about making decisions, making mistakes and moving on.

You can play all kinds of online games with your grandchildren. There are many virtual games apps, such as House Party and Jackbox, which you can play over video chat.

There are a number of board game apps too. Some are free, while others must be purchased. Check with parents first so they can preview each app and give permission before you suggest it to your grandchildren. Here are links to common board game apps that most children love:

Monopoly (paid)

Scrabble (free)

Clue (paid)

Snakes and Ladders (free)

Game of Life (paid)

Chess (free)

Candy Land (paid)

Dominoes (free)

Rummikub Junior (free)

Uno card game (free)

Crazy Eights (free)

Final word:

Grandmom and Grandad have their experiences to tell in the form of stories. Moreover, they are the storehouse of beautiful life inspiring stories which no kid should be denied. So nostalgic, I feel right now! What is your strongest memory from your childhood of your grandparents?

Inspired By Vaaridhi Vairagi.