This may be a time when you feel you have the most meaningful and long-lasting influence on your grandchildren. Grandparent/grandchild relationships can be quite significant as adolescent children and young adults try to find their identity. You may be the person they feel safe talking to about a certain idea or dream. They may choose to bounce it off you first before they talk to their parents.
It may be important for you to be available for them when it comes to their relationships with their parents (your children). They may ask you to help them understand their parents during difficult times. It is not uncommon for a teenage grandchild to ask their grandparent, “Was Mom always this way?” or “Why does Dad do this?”
Passing down values is also an important and meaningful part of your relationship with your older grandchildren. Your grandchild’s political, religious, sexual, moral, and educational values as well as family ideals, work ethic, and identity are all belief systems and values that you, as a grandparent, can continue to influence. They may even see your wisdom and experience as more valuable than their own parents’ during this time.
