10 Essentials for Setting-Up Extraordinary Grandparenting

So You Can Step-Forward with Enthusiasm, Appreciation, and Grace

This article is #7 in the series about CoCreating the Well-Living Community for Grandparents and Grandkids.

The article is framed like a checklist. Please assign appropriate time and effort to unpack it to realize your Extraordinary Grandparenting Approach.

Here are the 10 Essentials for Setting-Up
Your Grandparenting Approach

1)) Know yourself to know your grandkids
Who are you?
Who are you to be grandparenting?
Reflect on your lived experience — your legacy story

2)) Clarify the meaning of the terms grandparent and grandparenting
Check your definition with your kin, especially your children (the parents)
Ask yourself: What would grandparenting look and feel like if it were easy?
Ask yourself: When grandparenting, what am I wanting to take care of?

3)) Use reflection-in and reflection-on your approach to grandparenting
Determine ways to improve, focus, and strengthen your grandparenting
Review your assignment of time, effort, and money to grandparenting

4)) Outline your grandparenting approach

1. remember your experiences of grandparents
2. discuss your role as a grandparent with your children (the parents of your grandchildren)
3. identify your preferred approach because of your needs, wants, and desires in light of #1 and #2
4. consolidate your learning from #1, #2, and #3 to frame your considered approach
5. discuss your #4 approach with your children in light of number #2
6. ask your grandkids about the ways and means they want to interact with you
7. discuss #6 insights in light of #5
8. review your approach in light of the two questions in 1))
9. use your intuition and logical reasoning to review #1 through #8
10. Celebrate where you are with the approach you have by enjoying your favorite drink

5)) Explore and discover your personal learning-for-knowing approach

6)) Explore and discover your preferred educating approach

7)) Value your grandchildren’s learning-for-knowing approach in terms of their growth and development

8)) Assess who influences your grandchildren

• from a kinship perspective — family dynamics
• from friends of the family perspective
• from direct social (sports, regularly scheduled) groupings with whom the grandchildren interact
• from indirect social (irregularly scheduled) groupings with whom the grandchildren interact
• from the media channels from which the grandchildren listen, read, watch
• from the grandchildren’s action — behaviors — consequences you witness
• from the experience-based stories the grandkids share with you

9)) Gather a Council of Elders outside your kinship and direct friends with whom you will check and balance your approach

1)) Use a meaningful pattern recognition lens to review #1 through #9 as a whole
Consider the “direct” version of the lens — face to face
Consider the “indirect” version of the lens — sending a gift/present by courier

Remain alert to what you want to continue, stop, start or add, alter, delete as you move through the statements above

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WELLth Movement’s intention is to guide, support, and celebrate Grandparents — Grandchildren’s — involvement with Nature (Trees).

Having read the article — consider these questions:

So What? What Else? Now What?
Can you offer something — to expand — to extend this article?

In the weeks and months to follow, I/you/we can help grandparents who step forward to improve, focus, and strengthen the co-creation of the Well-Living Community — a community platform of programs and projects, and processes and products grandparents (and grandchildren) can access to support “grandparenting in/with the natural world”.

If you can’t wait, then use our Website Contact Form to ask questions — share comments — sign up for updates about the WELL-Living Community for Grandparents.

https://wellthmovement.com/contact

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