Grandparents and Their Importance to the Youth

To many of us, losing a grandparent for the first time is one of the saddest moments in our lives. Many people reading this may share many happy memories with their grandparents.  When your parents tell you that you are going to be spending the day/weekend/week with your grandparents, it is super exciting because you know that you have not seen them in a while and now you get an entire day/weekend/week with someone who loves and cares for you. Even though it may be an excuse for the parents to have a day or two away from you, spending time with your grandparents is such an exciting experience.

I have heard many embarrassing stories about a parent from a grandparent. Besides the juicy stories about one of my parents, just listening to them talk about their past and any life lessons they have learned and want to teach us about was very entertaining or impactful. Grandparents are underappreciated because of their impact on their own children, which has a direct influence on the grandchildren.  The impact that grandparents have on their grandchildren cannot be refuted and grandparents should be appreciated more often.

Grandparents are crucial to their own children’s upbringing. The grandparents raised them in a way that has shaped their kids to be who they are today. When the grandparents finally have grandchildren, the parents will typically base their parenting methods on how the grandparents raised them. Whether it had been a great upbringing or not, the grandparents will be directly impacting the parents and indirectly impacting the grandchildren. I interviewed Leilani Dolanski, who is my mother, about her parents and how her own parenting skills may have been influenced by her own parents. Leilani said that most of her parenting skills were based on how she was raised. “Both of my parents were different in how they parented,” she said. “My mother was the strict one while my father was the quiet and reserved one. When I had [my children], I used both of my parents and tried to find a balance between them.” When asked about which parent was the most impactful in her parenting skills, Leilani said that her mother was. “My mama would be the one that I based my parenting on the most because I think I am more like her than my father.”

My Grandmother Lola

The appreciation of grandparents should not just be done only once per year, It should be done regularly, at least the same amount of time that you would appreciate your own parents.  They have been indirectly influential in how your parents raise you. Your parents may have used their own parents in determining how they should raise their own children. The grandparents’ impact on the future generations is underappreciated and should be talked about more often.

Here’s some advice: If you have not talked to your grandparents in a while, give them a call. It means the world to them that you care for them, and they can see that their love for you has made such a positive impact on you. However, if you are like me and do not have any grandparents left, then take some time to reflect on how impactful they have been on your own life and appreciate the time that you may have gotten to spend with them. Cherish the memories that you have had with your grandparents and let them know that you love them.

Brandon Dolanski is an NWACC student in the fall 2024 Media Writing class.