How to build relationships with grandparents

If you follow a few simple rules , communication between adult children who already have their own family with their parents enriches both parties. The first receive mentors in strengthening family relations, the second - the opportunity to realize their love and care for loved ones, to share life experience.

Your perception of your own future aging and self-esteem depends on how warm the relationship between generations in the family is. If old age is treated as a golden age, when there is time and an opportunity to make your dreams come true, engage in hobbies and travel the world, children develop an image of old age as the peak of life, when it is possible to collect the fruits of past years. And vice versa.

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If the ancestors are perceived as a burden, and old age as a time of loss of opportunities, this generates fear about my own future: I am afraid of getting old. In this case, self-esteem is associated only with the idea of ​​youth, beauty and success, which will ultimately undermine self-confidence.

For grandchildren, communication with grandparents allows them to learn the model of relationships between adults, and also develops soft - skills: flexibility of thinking, responsibility, the ability to communicate and build relationships. Communicating with the older generation, children see different ways of interaction between people, different views on life. The so-called zone of variable development is being created.

Another reason why it is so important to organize communication between grandchildren and grandparents is that those less parents are interested in achieving high results and goals. For them, the process in which the child is engaged and receiving joy from him are more important.

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While parents often take on the role of educator and require children to fulfill certain responsibilities, grandparents accept grandchildren as they are. This allows the children to be with them in a zone of absolute acceptance and safety, because there is no need to meet any expectations.

Grandparents are also more likely to sympathize, empathize with the child. They more openly show him their support and understanding. Subsequently, this helps children to take the position of another person, take into account someone else's opinion, and more easily accept criticism.

In addition, grandmothers and grandfathers are carriers of family history, which, on the one hand, lays in grandchildren a set of life orientations and values, on the other hand, it provides a basis for building their own lives, relying on the experience of past generations. Understanding and knowledge of the history of the genus is an important resource for self-confidence: the child understands that he is involved in something greater than himself. This is an important part of self-knowledge and self-awareness.

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In the future, the landmarks obtained through family history become a guiding star for both grown children and their future families. After researching the myths and rituals of families, it is concluded that the more children know about their family history, the stronger their sense of control over their own lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believe their families are successful.

Through familiarization with the experience of past generations, the options for our behavioral strategies are expanded when it is necessary to make important decisions in life.

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