…look for opportunities to take our grandchildren out of their comfort zones... “ ”
grandparenting
There are other nonprofits that set up one- or two- week projects of building a school, digging an irrigation system, organizing a health clinic, or providing micro-lend- ing for new small business ideas—projects that families can participate in during the Christmas holidays or during school vacation periods in the spring or summer. Two of our favorite nonprofit organizations that are very good at organizing such expeditions are Rising Star Outreach , which builds and runs schools for leprosy-affected chil- dren in southern India, and Choice Humanitarian , which sets up water, educational, and agricultural projects in Mexico, Nepal, and other third-world locations. To get beyond the “fake reality” of websites and video games and the not-much-better reality of the “global vil- lages” of Disney World, we grandparents, as our means allow, should look for opportunities to take our grandchil- dren out of their comfort zones and into the parts of the globe that they have never imagined and that they can never experience vicariously or in cyberspace or amuse- ment park space. Frankly, there is nothing quite like the experience and relationships provided by a situation with grand- parents and grandkids in a remote corner of the world without Wi-Fi or TV, giving real help and having genuine communication. Funds from the type of family foundation discussed in our last article qualify for use in participating in all of these forms of humanitarian and charitable expeditions, although the experience will mean more to kids if they have earned part of the money it costs to go. Reading through the majors offered at universities It is remarkable how many kids start college these days
Pick up a course catalog from a good university (or find one online), and take your high school grandchild out for dinner. Turn to the list of degrees or majors and read through the entire list together and talk a bit about the ones he or she may not be familiar with. Have your grandchild rank each major with a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, depend- ing on how interesting the major sounds with 1 being low interest and 5 being very high. Think together about what kind of career each major might lead to. Discuss how the world is changing and how there are things to do in work and career and in educational focus that did not even exist a few years ago. Explain and dis- cuss how important it is to think hard about what to study in college, and even to take some exploratory classes, various aptitude tests, and do a serious analysis of where his or her interests lie. Whoever you are and wherever you have been, as a grandparent, you are at one end of your life experience and your grandchildren are at the other end. You can and should seek to become one of your grandkids’ pri- mary and principal mentors as they grow and become acquainted with the world around them.
Richard and Linda Eyre’s parenting and life- balance books have reached millions and been translated into a dozen languages. As fellow Baby Boomers, their
with very little idea of what they want to study or what courses and majors would tie into their natural abilities and aptitudes. There are aptitude tests and orientation courses and other institutionalized methods for helping kids figure out their careers and decide on the emphasis and directions of their college or university training. But there is a much better source and method, and it is called grandparents.
passion and their writing focus has now shifted to the joy of Grandparenting. Linda’s latest book is Grandmothering , Richard’s is Being a Proactive grandfather , and their latest co-authored book is Life in Full. All three of these are now on sale on Amazon.
30 GRANDP arenting
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease