That is the first thing that caught my eye as I was looking around today for some new information for this blog. One out of Ten. Wow. That is just mind boggling! It seems there are more and more Grand Parents taking over the care of their Grand Children. The more of us there are, the more resources become available.
Thankfully, our time raising our grand children is done, for now. They have finally moved out and are living less than 20 miles away. We have mixed emotions about them leaving. We kind of got used to having them around. Now, they are close, but we never see them. We hope to never be put in that situation again.
It is hard, especially when our children are grown up, with their own family, to see our children still making the same mistakes over and over. I often wonder where some of these people that make the evening news for loosing custody get their parenting skills from? Really, I was raised to protect my children from the bad elements of life, and arm them with the tools to avoid falling into the trap of drugs, and alcohol. I honestly tried to teach my children the same values.
The time raising our grandkids has taught me to always be prepared for the unexpected. It happened once, it could happen again. If it does happen again, we will know a lot more how to handle the situation.
Grand Parents raising grand children has grown to have a place in the U.S. Government resources. A lot of good information is available. There you will find resources for financial assistance, to support groups for those grand parents who have been blessed with raising grandchildren, no matter what the reason.
The Today Show has some excellent resources for grand parents. There are many places and resources to help. It is tax time. You may be able to claim them, depending on your circumstances.
Parenting Weekly has a Grand Parents section as well. There are resources for grand parents to assist in entertaining, playing with, and discipline. Keep up with the latest trends in grand parents raising their grand children. Seek the support you need to get you and the children through a difficult time.
If you are blessed with raising your grand children, you deserve a medal! Make this time with them a loving, fun time for them. Things in life often happen, and they are beyond our control. The best we can do, is be loving, supportive grand parents. Our grand children need us! And we are there.
