Grandparenting a Seven-Year-Old Grandchild

As my life becomes more balanced, I have gained added time to enjoy my grandson as he turns seven years old. I am excited to watch his incredible growth developmentally and academically. I find seven- year-olds are very thoughtful and creative in their responses to life. I am also impressed with his increasing reasoning abilities and effective problem-solving strategies.

Becoming More Responsible

Some of the questions and discussion topics that we and other friends are discussing include:

When can I walk home from a neighbor’s house or school?
When am I old enough to help prepare a meal and help myself to seconds at the dinner table?
Which snack do I want to take from the snack drawer or do I want to fix a sandwich after school?
Can I reach the dishes for preparing meals and how do I clean up from a meal?
What responsibilities do I need to complete as a family member?
How can I earn an allowance?
What extra chores can I do around the house for extra money because I am saving for a special toy?
How can I save money at the bank?
What do I need to do to get ready for bed?
I am ready to read but still need help. How can you help me read better?

Considering Family Values

In addition to all of these thought-provoking discussions, my grandson is learning about family values in relation to his moral development. For example, recently his found ammunition on the playground from a nerf blaster. The afterschool yard duty aide told my grandson that he could keep it and not worry about who lost it. I was concerned that he should try and find the owner and return it to the lost and found bin at school. The moral of this story was that the value expressed to my grandson from the yard duty aide was not the value being reinforced at home. We were able to discuss the difference of values in various situations as a leaning lesson for the future.

Much joy as you grow with your grandchildren!

Joyce