Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - Coping With Questions
If you are in the group grandparents raising grandchildren you may be wondering how to answer the questions your grandchildren may have.
It is a very hard situation when these children want answers and you don't know how to answer them without saying something that will certainly sound bad about their parents.
What do you tell the kids? First just let me say that most if not all kids are different and each child will have to be dealt with individually but I am going to give you a list of a few things I have learned when dealing with my grandchildren.
Remember that these children are suffering from being away from their parents and that they still love and miss them and you have nothing to gain by saying bad things about their parents.
Be understanding and tell them it's OK to ask the same question more than once if they don't understand.
Create an environment that they fell comfortable to talk in and use things that happen in day to day life to bring up things you may need to speak with them about.
If your grandchild asks you questions and you don't have time to talk to them or you don't have the answer,when you tell them you will take to them about it later always be sure that you do.
No Matter what your grandchildren's age, they should have truthful answers.
It's what strengthens our grandchildren's capacity to have confidence in us.
Also, when we don't provide a simple answer, kids may assume the answers, which may be more scary than the truth.
We as grandparents want to protect our grandchildren so you may not see a need to share all the details of a particular subject, try not to leave a lot of unanswered questions either.
Children can usually tell when we are not telling them the whole story.
You can usually tell them enough so they know what to expect and what is going on without causing so much confusion for them.
Don't tell them what they don't have a need to know.
It is a very hard situation when these children want answers and you don't know how to answer them without saying something that will certainly sound bad about their parents.
What do you tell the kids? First just let me say that most if not all kids are different and each child will have to be dealt with individually but I am going to give you a list of a few things I have learned when dealing with my grandchildren.
Remember that these children are suffering from being away from their parents and that they still love and miss them and you have nothing to gain by saying bad things about their parents.
- Be Patient
- Try To Be Honest
- Listen To Them
- Create An Environment Where They Know It's OK To Ask Questions
- Initiate Conversations If You Can See That Need To Talk
- Take The Time To Answer Them When They Have Questions
- Use Everyday Life As Opportunities To Talk With Them
- Let Them Know That It's OK To Talk About Things Over And Over Until They Are Satisfied
Be understanding and tell them it's OK to ask the same question more than once if they don't understand.
Create an environment that they fell comfortable to talk in and use things that happen in day to day life to bring up things you may need to speak with them about.
If your grandchild asks you questions and you don't have time to talk to them or you don't have the answer,when you tell them you will take to them about it later always be sure that you do.
No Matter what your grandchildren's age, they should have truthful answers.
It's what strengthens our grandchildren's capacity to have confidence in us.
Also, when we don't provide a simple answer, kids may assume the answers, which may be more scary than the truth.
We as grandparents want to protect our grandchildren so you may not see a need to share all the details of a particular subject, try not to leave a lot of unanswered questions either.
Children can usually tell when we are not telling them the whole story.
You can usually tell them enough so they know what to expect and what is going on without causing so much confusion for them.
Don't tell them what they don't have a need to know.
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