Week 151: Marriages and Parenting Grandchildren

-

Please join us this week in praying for married couples parenting their grandchildren.  In preparing for this blog I came across an article issued by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  This article, which is reproduced in full below, states the challenges of this life situation exceptionally well.  The article was originally posted in March 2011 at http://aacap.org.

"Grandparents are an important resource for both parents and children. They routinely provide child care, financial assistance and emotional support.  Occasionally they are called upon to provide much more including temporary or full time care and responsibility for their grandchildren.

An increasing number of children in the United States live in households headed by a grandparent.  This trend is due to:
  • increasing numbers of single parent families
  • the high rate of divorce
  • teenage pregnancies
  • incarcerations of parents
  • substance abuse by parents
  • illness, disability or death of parents
  • parental abuse or neglect


In many of these homes, neither of the child's biological parents is present. In most cases, children taken care of by grandparents move in with them as infants or preschoolers and remain with them for five years or more. These grandparents are a diverse group ranging in ages from their thirties to their seventies.  Many grandparents are ready to simplify their lives and slow down.  Giving that up and taking over the responsibilities of being a primary caregiver again can stir up many feelings including grief, anger, loss, resentment and possibly guilt.  The transition can be very stressful and the emotional and financial burdens can be significant.  Culture shock at having to deal with children and adolescents of a different generation can be great. Grandparent-headed households have a significantly higher poverty rate than other kinds of family units."

Please pray that married couples in this life situation will
  • stand together as they face the challenges of parenting grandchildren
  • be honest before God with their feelings and seek and accept His comfort
  • live with an attitude of hope, even on the hardest days
  • find those who will walk along side them and give them support and periods of rest
  • be wise in how they represent the parents of their grandchildren to their grandchildren, being careful not to poison a relationship that is likely already 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 329: Marriages and a Workaholic Spouse

-
Please join us this week in praying for marriages dealing with the workaholic tendencies of a spouse. A workaholic is often defined as one who works compulsively. When a workaholic is in a marriage, his/her compulsive tendencies can create serious difficulties. Examples of issues brought about by a workaholic spouse are a low degree of spousal interaction, limited emotional connection, an absence of sexual intimacy and insufficient opportunities to enjoy common interests, all of which can lead to loneliness and isolation. It is no wonder the spouse of a workaholic can become convinced he/she is not cherished or valued by the work-driven spouse. All needs, interests and dreams take second place to the workaholic’s job. When children are involved, stresses increase even more as the workaholic habitually misses significant events and family functions, leaving the spouse to be the children’s sole support and forcing the spouse to explain away the workaholic’...
Read more
-
Well, I have learned a little about Blogger page building, enough to be mostly satisfied with the design. I hopw to start posting again Monday. Thank you for following and mostly for praying for the marriages of the world.
Read more
-
There will be a short, I hope, hiatus in my Praying for Marriages blogs. Blogger has changed quite a bit, and thus I have lost the auto-formatting I have used for years. As soon I figure out how to use this new version of Blogger, I will continue the Praying for Marriages blogs. Thank you for praying for marriages. Just because my blog is taking a break, it does not mean you must take a break. Marriages in all situations need your intercession for them.
Read more