How can I be a good long-distance grandparent?

 

proud grandparents enjoying photos and email from grandchild

How can I be a good grandparent when I live so far away?

How can I form a close bond with my grandchildren when we see each other so rarely? 

Being a good long-distance grandparent is indeed a challenge, but it can be done.

Here are some suggestions:

  1. When you visit your grand children, pick a time that best suits them, for example, when they are on holidays and have lots of free time.
  2. Send travel money so your grandkids can visit you.
  3. On your visits together, take lots of photos and make a scrapbook of the visit together.
  4. Phone each grandchild after a special event they’ve been involved in. This means they will have lots to tell you and you can share in the excitement of the event.
  5. Keep notes of the little things that are important in your grand child’s life, for example,  their teacher’s name, details about their best friend, names of their pets, favourite activities.
  6. Talk to each other online. Open up a Facebook for all your grandchildren to share. That way they can get to know their cousins, as well as you.
  7. Place photos and short videos of your activities on the internet; get your grandchildren to put up photos of their art work and their activities on the internet too.
  8. If your grandchild has a special collecting hobby, get involved too. Collect bottle tops or stamps or buy them special jewellary beads and post them to them.
  9. A good getting-to-know-you game is 20 questions. Each person takes turns in asking 20 questions about the other person. What is your favourite colour? Who is your best friend? And so on.
  10. When your grandchild comes to visit, work out together beforehand what to do, for example,  where to visit, what dvds to watch, what to eat.
  11. Make your house a fun place to visit. Visit op shops and buy dress up clothes and trinkets, board games, ping pong tables and dart boards.
  12.  Find a list of the best -loved books and films for each age. Find a list of great you tube videos; amazon gift-wraps and posts books for you.
  13. Open up a on-line movie-download account for your grandkids and send them a list of great films to watch; help them choose what to order next.
  14. Send surprise presents. Buy a bulk pack of parcel envelops and look out for cheap things to send,  for example, trinkets from op shops or garage sales, bottle tops for their collection, a special book, etc.
  15. Make up a photo book about the story of how they came to be – starting with pictures of their grandparents and then their parents and aunts and uncles and them as babies.
  16. Tell your children and your grandchildren of your commitment to being part of your grandchildren’s everyday lives despite living miles apart. And commit to allocating a generous amount of your money to fund this involvement. Money spent on building important relationships is a good investment.
  17. Exploit the computer for all that it offers – email, facebook, web site, video conferenceing, on-line computer games like chess and checkers and backgammon; arrange for each grandchild to have their own email address.
  18. Be clear about your goal at the outset. For example, your goal might be for my grandchild to sayone day, “My grandma and grandpa are very special people in my life. They gave me lots of love when I was growing up and I love them very much.”‘