The Three Minute Grandparent: Needs


Grandparents have needs; we never grow out of it.  We continue to need from the moment of our births to the very second we leave this earth.  As babies, we needed constant care by an adult who was able to give food, clothing, warmth, love, and cleaning up after our messiness.  As children we continued with the previous needs and added to those supervision, training and guidance.  This particular Grandpa needed much in the way of supervision and guidance and it came from two very loving parents.  This child tried the patience of his Mom and Dad on a daily basis with his curiosity and sometimes mischief.  Two sisters were the targets of many mischievous experiments; fortunately they have since forgiven him.  As teenagers, we continued needing a firm hand of guidance with a sense of freedom.  This requires almost superhuman understanding from the parent; a knowledge of each child helps in imposing limits while granting a measure of freedom.  This Grandpa constantly tested the limits of that freedom while living in fear of actually finding the key that would unlock the door to unlimited freedom.  As young adults, this freedom seems almost boundless and only an experienced parent can continue to help the freedom fighter balance freedom with responsibility.  As a senior citizen, I continue to explore the balance between freedom and responsibility.  As a Grandpa, I find myself in the position of having a certain amount of experience and understanding; as a parent, I find myself with grown children who are gaining that experience and understanding in life.  It is a curious experience to watch our children follow in our steps through life, learning, hurting and growing.  As Grandparents we long to offer our experiences in the form of suggestions even while knowing that the new adults must experience many of the same lessons that helped us gain that knowledge.  We still offer that knowledge and experience and are more than pleased to help our children at any time.  Grandparents still have needs and this post is the first in a series of posts dealing with the needs of a Grandparent.  Many thanks to Os Hillman (http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/about-us/) for the original idea of the 7 needs of People, which will be developed over the next posts.

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