grandparenting
Some of our grandchildren’s favorites were simple stories like “Grandpa Dan and the Cat That Came Back,” about a cat that young Dan in Sweden kept trying to give away, only to have it find its way home; and “The Reason We’re Not Billionaires,” about great-great-grandpa Bingham, who was a sheep farmer who was bothered by all the red rocks on his homestead, never realizing that they were copper ore. The property is now the site of the largest open pit copper mine in the world. Just as your grandchildren will be the key and the substance of your future legacy, you can, in turn, provide the key and the substance of their link to the past and their larger-than-self-identity. Think of yourself as the storytelling connector of branches and roots. Research is now suggesting that one of the very best things we can do for our grandkids is to teach them about their ancestors and give them the identi- ty-strengthening blessing of a real “Family Narrative.” An Emory University study concludes, “the more children know about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem.” You, as a grandpar- ent, are perfectly positioned to create the kinds of family narratives that can make your grandkids stronger and more resilient. ” “
Then, we compiled the stories we had heard and the ones we were able to find on ancestry websites, and we wrote up each of them as a children’s story, in chil- dren’s language. We tried to find and write at least one story about each of the twenty-eight people in the roots (below-ground) part of the painting. These twenty-eight noble souls are our kids’ grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents. Having their individual pictures visible on their indi- vidual roots on our family tree is what introduced these wondrous people to our grandkids; and finding one interesting story from each of their lives is what helped them to feel like they really knew each of them a bit.
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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 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.
42 GRANDP arenting
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