Grandparents are a vital part of your toddler’s existence. My family has a saying – our family belongs to our kids – not the other way around. Your toddler will benefit from the relationships with the extended family in a multitude of ways. Of course, you as the parents, are the final arbiters of who is and isn’t safe to be around your toddler.
Visits & More
If your toddler’s grandparents are not local, then it’s important to plan two or three trips per year, every year. Whether the grandparents come to visit you or you go to visit them. We experienced this in the first several years of my daughter’s life.
We lived in Virginia, the grandparents on all sides lived in Texas, Oregon and California. My husband’s mother came to visit us as often as her schedule and finances allowed, especially during the first couples of years. Luckily, she utilized NetSavers and miles to keep her costs down. We came to visit down to Texas to see her and my mother two times a year as well.
Our daughter benefited from knowing her grandparents in that she developed strong emotional bonds to them. She enjoyed their visits for the quality time it gave her as well as the special attention. We as parents enjoyed those visits because not living near extended family, it also gave us a little break and time not only with our family, but with each other.
When Visits Aren’t An Option
Sometimes visits are hard to manage due to financial viability or other issues. In those cases, it’s important to use things like the telephone, tape recorders, video recorders and photographs to help foster the relationship between your toddler and their extended family.
This provides both the grandparents and your toddler with sights and sounds to keep their familiarity with each other alive. One of my daughter’s grandparents cannot visit her that often and of late, we’ve not been able to visit her. Photographs and phone calls between the two keeps their relationship alive in real time – she loves to send her grandmother cards, pictures, drawings and more.
Do you live close to your toddler’s grandparents or do you have to visit?
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