Grandparenting an Athelete

Grandparenting an Athlete

It has been an exciting school year. The younger granddaughters are learning gymnastics as they advance in their ballet classes and performances. Our middle school grandson has completed a full season of cross country. Our passionate middle school granddaughter juggles a full schedule of select soccer and volleyball. And our older grandchild loves to sail and snow ski. Our greatest challenge is to be fully present for each grandchild as we watch them compete and follow their passions. Each has their individualized preferences for how we are present for their various activities. All request various levels of encouragement. Some love us to cheer loudly while others want us to observe quietly. The older grandkids accommodate our support while the younger grandkids want our full-time participation at all events. Thankfully, we are the grandparents. Our only job is to support each grandchild with their preferred level of support and drive them to an event when requested.

Organizing the Sports/Activity Calendar

At the beginning of the school year, I contact each grandchild and ask them how much they want us involved in the sport and activity schedule. The younger they are, the more they want our attention. Once they express their wishes, I organize our activity attendance schedule. The twins love to show me their recent new dance and gymnastics steps at home. We are only required to drive them to class sometimes and are committed to attending formal performances twice a year. The middle school grandson’s schedule conflicted with the twins’ dance schedule. We volunteered to manage driving for the grandson’s Tuesday schedule while the parents and a babysitter shared driving for the twins’ schedule. I loved watching all cross country meets with our middle school grandson because he was passionate and excited about this new sport. We were encouraged to take photos at all events and share with our extended family. What a wonderful achievement! The older grandkids loved to have us attend many activities until middle school. Once in middle school we distanced ourselves as friends are very important and carpools are wonderful.

Cheering for a Grandchild Athlete

Next, we learned how to cheer for each child at their specific event. The ballet recitals were very disciplined so we quietly enjoyed the performances and awarded each twin with flowers after their performance when we all posed for family photos. The middle school cross country grandson loved having us cheer for him and his team. The coach encouraged outstanding teambuilding cheering for all athletes participating in the race. We took photos at each event and circulated them to family members. The older grandkids thanked us for coming and focused on their sport with their teammates. We were encouraged to cheer holistically for the team and remain calm and quiet.

What I Have Learned from the Coaches

The following are guidelines I have learned from coaches after years of team participation as an athlete, parent, and now a grandparent:

Be present for the entire team.
Listen to the coach and follow the rules.
Reinforce the coach’s rules with your athlete.
Cheer for the entire group of participants.
Don’t coach your athlete or the team from the observation areas.
Be positive at all times.
Don’t distract with unnecessary chatter.
Bring snacks that nourish your athlete and the team.
Offer support or help when requested from the coach.
Model positive sportsmanship for all attendees at a sporting event.

When I consider the value of team sports, I am thankful that all our grandkids value their experiences in their selected sports and team activities. This participation overcomes isolation and encourages lifetime friendships. It helps our grandchildren learn how to effectively work with teams at home, school, and eventually in their jobs and careers.

Share your experiences as a parent or grandparent supporting your athletes in the comments section below this blog.

Camp Grandma

beach-168791_960_720 When my children were growing up, many of their friends would be delivered to their grandparents’ home for a week to play and explore new adventures with their grandparents. When they returned from these mini vacations, they would rave for days about the many adventures they encountered on these treasured trips. Although my children did not have grandparents who traveled with their grandchildren, they were fortunate to share similar experiences with their friends’ families.

Vacations Without Parents

My children would love the opportunity to live a different life with a new family for several days. Once in high school, each daughter had a chance to live in Europe for several weeks during one summer with a different family. One daughter helped a family friend take care of their children in France. Another daughter was able to replicate this experience by participating as a Rotary Club Ambassador in Finland. Both of our daughters returned from this extended travel with more self-determination skills and confidence, as they each had encountered another country with a different language and lived with another family. Both successfully overcame many challenges on their own with our loving encouragement by phone.

Camp Grandma Trips

When I became a grandparent, I was determined to create a Camp Grandma experience for our grandchildren. We would convene a family meeting with our grandchildren on where we would take our vacation and plan our play activities. All participating grandchildren had to be at least age three and be prepared to challenge themselves in becoming more independent with their older cousins or siblings. We have had five Camp Grandmas to date and all have survived and relished the experiences of becoming junior rangers at a state park, surviving beach board walk carnival rides, and taking day trips biking, hiking, and exploring parks.

Favorite Trip

The favorite trip to date has been staying at the beach for several days and exploring nature, surviving wild carnival rides, playing in the tide pools and ocean, swimming in a pool, sharing ice cream cone eating with their cousins, and eating out at a variety of restaurants. The grandkids earn an allowance for maintaining their belongings, taking care of younger siblings and cousins, and tutoring each other on the intricacies of building a Lego village, math facts, reading readiness, social study explorations, and science experimentations. The token allowance is received at the end of the trip and the grandkids can select journal postcards to add to their collection of drawings and stories about their trip.

What Kids Learn

Once the children are returned to their parents, they relive their adventures for weeks by telling their stories of achievements to their parents and to anyone else who will listen to them. After a trip to the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk for four days, my four year old grandson raved about living in a hotel as this was a new adventure that he loved. My six year old granddaughter was finally tall enough to take a ride with grandpa on the Big Dipper roller coaster. The nine year old grandson raved about the gourmet seafood platter he fully consumed at a fancy restaurant that was ordered from the adult menu!

Camp Grandma at Grandma’s Home

In response to COVID challenges, we modified our Camp Grandma experiences this year to learning new skills and taking daily excursions from our home to many local tourist sites. These included learning how to sew, making puzzles, watercolor painting, bike rides, ocean play, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, visiting San Francisco tourist sites, and eating desserts at the Half Moon Bay Harbor. We also took each grandkid school shopping for clothes which all parents appreciated this year.

Our Favorite Camp Grandma Trips

Now that we have completed many Camp Grandma vacations, the grandkids continue to discuss the family traditions that they have established with us on these great adventures. So far, the beach vacation has won as the ideal vacation destination. The kids rave about their walk to the ice cream shop with their cousins at night. They brag about staying out until it is dark at the boardwalk to see the bright lights of the carnival rides.

These adventures will stay with them throughout their lives until they become parents themselves some day and initiate new family traditions. I feel fortunate that I am young enough as a grandma to share in these exuberant adventures. I am also mature enough that I can safely deliver the grandchildren back to their parents so that I can rest up for the next great adventure in grand parenting.

Happy fun adventures with your children and family!

Warm regards,

Mary Ann

Recording Observations in Science Notebooks

When I hike with my grandchildren, they make many observations along the way. They may watch a slug moving on a leaf, or worms slither around as they lift up a rock. They generate questions about the plants and animals they see. Often this leads to conversations that generate lots of ideas to explain what they have observed. It is valuable to record these observations and these comments in science notebooks.

Start Young

Recording observations can start with very young children by encouraging them to draw what they have seen. If children cannot yet write, they can dictate to parents or grandparents, who can then label the drawings. They may also record the children’s questions or observations next to the drawings.

Little by little, children will want to write for themselves. At first, they may write one letter or a series of letters they hear when they say name of the object they are depicting. This inventive writing should be encouraged. It is a vital step in the development of writing. Eventually, as their phonemic awareness increases and their phonics develops, children will fill in the missing letters and increase their written comments.

Academic Connection

In school, children will be asked to record their scientific observations as early as in kindergarten. The Next Generation Science Standards, adopted by the Sate of California in 2013, emphasize the expectation that kindergarteners will make observations to look for patterns in nature. It couples this standard with the English Language Arts standard about participating in research and writing projects.

We want to encourage children to think like scientists – to be observant; to put words to their thinking; and to record their thinking. We, as parents and grandparents, can encourage this process as we spend time in nature with them.

With love and affection,

Rosemarie

Nature Walk

The dew drops were still glistening on the leaves as my grandnephew and I began our nature walk one early morning in Edgewood Park. We decided to take a trail through a wooded area that led uphill to a grassy meadow and beautiful rolling hills.

Learning about Wildlife

My six-year-old companion was very curious as we came to each kiosk situated along the trail. He asked me to read about the plant or animal described along with its photo. We would look for the plants depicted as we continued on the trail. Eventually he began to recognize and name the ferns, moss, lichen, and the various shrubs and trees we saw.

My grandnephew was also excited to know about the animals and insects that surrounded us. We read about the deer, raccoons, and other small animals we might see in the forest, as well as the snakes we might see in the grasslands. We talked about how the park had many habitats for many plants and animals. This was their home. We needed to be respectful of them as we visited this beautiful park.

Nature Walks Can Happen Everywhere

I’ve taken nature walks with my children and grandchildren in many settings. A neighborhood walk can turn into a nature walk as well as a walk to the local park. Plant and animal habitats surround us in front yards, in trees along the route, and in our neighborhood parks. Children can explore the habitats of plants, insects and birds in any of these settings. We expand the world for our children as they realize that plant and animal habitats surround us, whether we are near or far away from home.

Enjoy nature with your little ones, every chance you get.

With love and affection,

Rosemarie

Teaching Our Children About Their Cultures

My family celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day because we are primarily Irish. We wear green, enjoy a corned beef and cabbage dinner, and decorate the house with shamrocks, Leprechauns, and pots of god. We may listen to some Irish music and read Irish folklore. We also talk about what we value most about our family heritage.

Culturally Sensitive School Celebrations

During the winter months our students celebrate a variety of culturally sensitive holidays at school. These include Martin Luther King Junior Day, presidents’ holidays, and the Cesar Chavez holiday. Several also celebrate Chinese New Year, the Tet Festival, or Saint Patrick’s Day with their families. We write stories about favorite holidays and share details about how our families celebrate a specific holiday. Most students describe a special meal that was part of the celebration with culturally relevant foods and traditions. Many families typically invite relatives to these special meals and celebrations.

At the end of this cultural unit, students will write their version of their family’s bill of rights with a mission statement or the values of their family. When considering the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights protects the basic rights of community members. These include the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and worship. Here is an example of a family’s mission statement with some rights within a family:

Creating a Family Bill of Rights

Our family’s mission statement is to protect, respect, and support each other in our healthy development of individual family members. Our family’s bill of rights includes these 10 freedoms:

The right to be respected and supported by each family member
The right to have individual needs expressed and supported by family members
The right to express individual feelings and beliefs about a situation without threats of being ridiculed or punished for those beliefs
The right to attend school and participate in extra-curricular activities and team sports
The right to participate in age-appropriate social and physical fitness activities with friends
The right to participate in service learning, community services, community leadership activities
The right to go to church and participate in age-appropriate church sponsored social activities
The right to explore and plan for a career path and college preparation
The right to work in a job with school-supportive hours while also attending high school
The right to help family members with project-based learning activities

A Family’s Bill of Rights Impacts a Family’s Values

Whenever, we complete this project with parents and their children, families are able to focus on what their values, mission, and bill of rights are for their family. These provide guidance with goals of what they would like their family to achieve. Many families frame or post their family’s mission statement and bill of rights in a prominent place in their home. These become a motto for family harmony and a guide for family growth.

Much success as you celebrate your family heritage and identify your family’s values with a mission statement to support the development of your family’s bill of rights.

Mary Ann