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Grandparents |
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A Grand Prize Phone Call |
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Jessica Fisher
4/1/2008
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The telephone rings.
“You’re the latest grand prize winner!” a voice says.
Many of us have wondered what it would be like to pick up the phone and hear that voice on the other end, announcing that we’ve won the grand prize in a sweepstakes. For grandparents, however, a small voice saying, “Hi Grampa! Whatcha doin’?” brings just as big of a smile. Indeed, there are great riches involved in both kinds of calls.
In this modern age of yearly job transfers and a global business economy, many of us maintain long-distance family relationships. A century ago, living halfway across the country would have made keeping in touch rare, if not impossible. But, with the aid of computers, fiber-optics and fantastic shipping resources, we have the opportunity to cultivate meaningful relationships even if our face-to-face contact is limited.
Encouraging and supporting multi-generational relationships across the miles is challenging, but tending these relationships will benefit you and those around you. Here are some suggestions as to how to bring those about:
Make frequent phone calls. If your budget allows, invest in an unlimited long distance telephone program so that your family can speak to each other often. Encourage your little ones to pick up the receiver, as well. Children as young as 1 year old will be fascinated by the voice they hear magnified from that piece of plastic. Explain to the grandparents that your kids might not understand the art of carrying on conversation.
Suggest topics that the grandparents might ask your child about. If phone calls are a regular habit, your kids will open up more and more as they grow older and will look forward to those telephone chats.
Send pictures often. Pictures are getting easier and easier to send.
Pre-address several envelopes and keep them ready for a few duplicate photos every month. If you have a digital camera, e-mail a few pictures whenever you can. Children grow so fast; grandparents will enjoy seeing how the little ones change. Likewise, make photos of the grandparents available to your children so that they will be able to associate faces with names and voices. Keeping a scrapbook or photo album handy is a great way to do this. Consider placing framed pictures in the kids’ rooms. If you have photos of grandparents and children together, that is an excellent way to reinforce happy memories.
Share stories. If your children are old enough, encourage them to share an exciting bit of news with the grandparents. Prompt a phone call, if necessary. Or just make the call yourself.
Write letters and e-mail. Kids love getting mail. Whether your family prefers classic pen and paper or electronic mail, encourage a pen pal relationship between the generations. Very young children can dictate to you what they want to say. Letter writing is also a helpful way for young students to practice penmanship and grammar skills.
Start a blog. This is an easy means of communicating stories and pictures to any family or friends that live far off. Create a family blog where all the members can post pictures, stories and even birthday wish lists for the grandparents to peruse.
Send Care Packages. As time and your budget allow, engage your children to prepare gift boxes to send to their grandparents. This can include crafts they’ve made, pictures they’ve drawn or stories they’ve written. In sharing these with your parents and in-laws, you are inviting them into the everyday part of life that they might be missing. Allow your children to be creative and give them some choice over what is included. You’ll be surprised how touched the grandparents will be.
Plan visits. If your schedule and your budget can handle it, plan to visit the grandparents on a regular basis.
The value of these relationships — relationships that will last for decades — far surpasses anything a sweepstakes can offer.
Jessica Fisher is a wife, a mother of five and a freelance writer who makes her home in a suburb of Kansas City.
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