Intergenerational Interaction: How it helps us

Tt’s amazing how much kids connect with Grandparents. There is an instant bond that seems effortless. One of my favorite parts about watching my children interact with my parents is that I get to remember all the best parts of my own childhood with them. I didn’t grow up knowing Grandparents and so it was important to me that my children did. Intergenerational interaction is beneficial for everyone involved.

I speak only from my own experience and observations.

There is something special about that bond that crosses generational lines to connect us all. Sometimes this intergenerational bond manifests itself as a piece of furniture (like the bed my oldest is now sleeping in that reaches back to his great-great-grandmother) or the cradle both my boys slept in (the same one his father and uncle also slept in as infants). Other times it is by taking them somewhere that shares a piece of our own childhood.

That is the lake cabin in Minnesota for me. I spent my childhood summers splashing in the same water that my kids now enjoyed. What’s even better is that even my mom played along this lakeshore when she was as young as 3. This shared experience helps us grow closer, and reminds me of what it is like to be a kid. As the first stop on our family RV road trip, we went to this lake cabin to meet up with my parents.

Read about keeping kids entertained on a long road trip here.

As I watch their fascination at the jumping frogs, I remember chasing after them myself. I watch them driving the boat sitting on my mom’s lap and remember doing the same thing myself. It helped me to connect back to my own childhood and therefore connect better to my children.

Kids find many benefits from intergenerational interaction.

They learn to be gentle and patient. My kids have been helping my dad for years as he lost his eyesight. They slow themselves as they offer to guide him and show him where things are.

Kids learn to communicate and improve their social skills by learning to interact with people outside of their peer group. There is a special bond between grandparents and grandchildren that I’ve seen that helps kids to learn from this older generation. There is the same level of comfort as with me, but my kids are more willing to listen to their grandparents.

With parents, kids like to push back, there is this tug-of-war that goes on throughout parenthood. Grandparents can bridge this war zone with ease that I have only seen in this kind of intergenerational interaction.

Intergenerational Interaction is good for Grandparents too!

It has been proven over and over that people who are active and social will live happier, longer lives. Playing with grandchildren is a great way to achieve both! It can be exhausting, but that social activity is crucial to keep away loneliness and depression.

I know I’m not always the greatest at calling regularly, and it can be hard to maintain a relationship when we live on opposite coasts, but we do our best. Intergenerational interaction is too important and we are lucky to live in a time when we can at least connect through technology, if not in person.

I’m also lucky to have my husband’s parents only a couple of hours away that we have regular weekend visits with. The undivided attention that the kids get from both sets of grandparents is beautiful to watch and the family bonds that we have created through intergenerational interaction are stronger than anything.

Plus, when grandparents are around, parents get a break! Talk about a win-win-win situation!