Hello and welcome to another wonderful Guest Post from Rupa of Mocktail Mommies. Grandparents have always had a part to play in bringing up children, more so in today’s world where both parents are often working.
Here’s what Rupa has to say.
GRANDPARENTS the word itself states ‘’GRAND’’ parents. Grandparents are delightful blend of laughter, caring deeds, wonderful stones and love. The transformation of a parent to Grandparent is phenomenal. The care and bonding multiplies to several folds when a grand-child makes his or her entry in to the family. Young ones need something stable to hang on – a culture connection, a sense of belonging, a clear path and that is what grandparents provide them. Grandparents play different roles such as loving companions, caregivers, mentors, historians, teacher and friend to name a few!
Our GRANDPARENTS have played a special role in our life in one way or other. There is a distinguished benefit seen in children wherein grandparents are involved in their upbringing. Even grandparents also enjoy benefits from the relationship with their grandchildren. There is high value standards and culture inculcated by grandparents which they have learnt by age and experience. The benefit is long lasting and permanent and helps us in each stride of life. I take this opportunity to share with you my little treasure of experience with my grandparents.
I had a close bonding with my GRANDMOTHER till her last breath. She has played a pivotal role in my upbringing and also my brother. The bonding becomes much stronger when you have working parents, which was true in my case. She acted as great pillars in each moment of our lives and was always ready to help in our difficult times.Some of the good habits such as getting up early, morning prayers and taking bath are those which have been taught from childhood days. The morning breakfast, delicious school lunch box and milk (served on time) will remain in my memory for a long time. The evening playing hours always used to be never ending and non-tiring however there was outer time limit set as part of discipline. Even though my grandmother used to put high emphasis on discipline and strict on certain aspects, she was always there to protect me from my parent’s ire.
Birthdays celebration involved cake cutting and gifts, however the first emphasis was on temple visit which has its own significance. Epic and moral values were part of bed time stories which I am able to narrate to my daughter. They taught me the value relationships in life and emphasised on been honest in any circumstances.
I would like to share my daughter’s experience with her Grandparents. My parents had voluntarily offered to take care of my daughter and insisted me to focus on my career. The minute detailing in each of the activity was commendable and heart-warming. The early morning body massage and bath with ancestral technique used to be admirable and fun loving to watch. My daughter loved to sit with my dad while offering morning prayers to God. Morning prayers is one of the things that my daughter doesn’t forget to say every day and this gives a sense of spiritual feeling. My daughter’s wardrobe used to be filled with dresses; however, those were neatly segregated to cater to multiple changes happening throughout the day. Though my mother insisted on daily attendance of school, the eager eyes could be easily seen till the time my daughter returned home. My daughter used to love the food since it had the magical touch of love and experience. My mother took her to market places to ensure her ambit of learning enhanced and also she appreciated the value of money. They always taught her to respect the elders, not to lie under any circumstances and lead a respectable and successful life.
Even though they had to invest lot of time towards my daughter, they managed their daily chores also very well which is quite appreciable. The consistency in the efforts and the dedication without any expectation is something which cannot be expressed with words. I can proudly say that the discipline and humility which is reflected in my daughter’s behaviour is something which has been inculcated by my parents from her early days. There is no way I would be able to repay my parents for what they have done for me and my daughter as it is priceless!!!
As we progress, there is some change which is seen in our living structure; wherein people, nowadays prefer nuclear families. My only message and learning is that “Grandparents act as roots of the family who standby during our good and difficult times and help us to sail through smoothly”.
More about Rupa
Twenty- five Seven 