Distance Grandparenting

I’ve been living in this neighborhood since my children were little. I love it here and until a few years ago, there was no place I’d rather be. Even after my kids got married, they settled nearby and began having children of their own. I got to babysit, pick the kids up from school—I saw them all the time. It was like having children all over again but so much better! And then, slowly, they all left. My daughter wanted better schools for her boys and my son got a job offer out of state and couldn’t pass it up. I went from seeing my five grandchildren almost every day to never.

 I don’t blame them. I understand. They left for good reasons. But I miss those kids. They filled my days, kept me active and made me feel like I was a part of their lives. I feel like I have so much to give, to offer to them, but without seeing them, it seems impossible. I know they miss me too, but they’re children. It’s not as though they can visit me on their own and they’re too young to really talk to me on the phone. Even if they could, that’s now what creates a relationship with children—I want to read to them, play with them and chat with them.

But a few months ago, things started to get better. My daughter had set me up with a computer before she left, but frankly, I didn’t use it much. But when they came for a visit recently, she sat down and walked me through the internet, how to log on and set up a video camera so I could see the kids, just like they were on tv. She showed me a bunch of websites that had huge lists of ways to chat with kids, share pictures, make slideshows. It’s amazing. The best is www.mygrandchild.com site that have games and books. With the webcam and a microphone, I can actually read to the kids online. They can see me on the webcam and hear me through the mic and we see the same thing on our screens at the same time. There are games and puzzles and we can talk about what we’re reading and doing. I try to schedule time with each of them once a week and it’s great to be able to look forward to that one-on-one time with them.

It’s amazing—they are thousands of miles away but every time we are on mygrandchild.com, it’s like they never left! Try it and you’ll see! Everyone who lives far away from their grandchildren should use mygrandchild.com!

I still miss them and can’t wait till the next visit, but now, they see my face and hear my voice and we can do all the things we used to do together. All the things that ensure that I stay a part of their lives, that I keep my connection to them no matter where they go.

Mygrandchild.com brought my grandchildren back to me!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 5:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized, elderd, baby boomers, grandparents, distance grandparenting, grandchildren from distance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.