Week 259: Marriages and Parenting Grandchildren

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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, though originally posted in March 2011, still provides insightful information.

"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 strained

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