Long Distance Grandparenting

My granddaughter lives only a few miles away and I see her all the time, so I can’t imagine if she wasn’t. But for many grandparents, long distance grandparenting is the norm. But how do you keep connected with your grandchildren who are so far away? Here are some suggestions you might want to try.

1. Write actual letters: what child does not love to get mail? What should you write? If your grandchild can read, send stories of what you are doing; ask questions to encourage them to write back. Send jokes and cartoons you thought were funny. Send a self-addressed envelope with your letter to make it easy for them to respond. Believe me, your grandchild will come home each day and ask if they have any mail.

2. In place (or in addition to) snail-mail, try faxes. They are more instantaneous than letters and fun for the kids. Most printers have built in fax machines where the grandchildren can scan and share pictures of their artwork and those A+ tests!

3. If your grandchildren have access to computers, tablets, or cell phone, play games with them. There are simple games like Dice with Friends or Words with Friends that can easily be played by many ages.

4. Consider having a collection in common. I collect Simpson characters and my granddaughter loves to go on E-bay to see what characters we don’t have.

5. Finally, the long distance grandparents’ best friend--- Skype and Face Time. If you do not have a Skype account, get one. It allows face to face conversations with your grandchildren. The next best thing to actually being there with them. (http://www.skype.com). If you are thinking what you would “talk” about on these phone calls, go back and look at #s 1-4. If you have already created ways to have something in common with your grandchildren, then you will have lots to share. Come to the conversation with an agenda to avoid those awkward pauses that might make the conversation awkward for the child and make him/her not want to continue the practice. There are some cons to this, such as the child moving around, etc. Be patient; the older the child gets, the more they will be able to sit still long enough to have a conversation.