Celebrating the wonder of grandparents

When we are younger we often feel dread about the prospect of growing old. In reality, age is a great privilege and with it comes the ability to offer a new perspective to our family.

With that in mind, let’s celebrate three amazing ways grandparents are so important to our children.

The time to be patient

Have you ever noticed that your parents are much more patient with your children than you remember them being when you were young?

Bringing up a family is hard work. Long gone are the days of it being uncommon for both parents to work. As you already know, juggling the demands of work with family life can be exhausting. That’s how it was for your parents when you were young.

Now your parents may be retired or approaching retirement age. As a result, their life is running at a very different pace to yours and that means they have time. This makes it much easier to be patient and calm in the face of even the most testing behaviour of their grandchildren.

They teach the value of human connection

If you talk to any older person about their life, you will rarely hear them wax lyrical about the things they owned in their lifetime. The stories our older relatives tell about their lives are packed full of the wonderful people they met and the experiences they shared. Through these stories, grandparents highlight the lasting value of the human connections we all make throughout our lives.

Shared life experiences

Time spent with a grandparent, hearing about their life is the most amazing way to bring family history to life. You’ll often hear stories that explain some of the deep-rooted traditions in your family, or the humorous tales that live on for years.

Stories like the tale about the family who, for generations had always cut their ham joint in half before roasting it. It wasn’t until a young child questioned this habit and the question got passed from mother to grandmother to great grandmother, that the amusing truth was revealed.

The truth? Because at some point in time, Great Grandma’s oven was too small to cook a whole ham. Yet that had become how the family roasted their ham.

Grandparents at The Dower House

Welcoming families, including grandchildren and well behaved dogs, have always been an important part of creating a happy and fulfilling life for our residents.

One of the greatest challenges of the last year has been keeping families apart. Whilst Zoom calls went some way to keeping families connected, there is no substitute for hearing the sound of families visiting their loved ones in the home. The traditional events that would see generations come together in celebration have certainly left a gap that has been hard to fill.

We hope that it won’t be long before we once more hear the sound of grandchildren playing in the gardens or their laughter throughout the house as we bring families back together.

To find out more about the family-friendly, home from home atmosphere at The Dower House, you can download our brochure. Alternatively, to stay up to date with life at The Dower House, join our mailing list here.