I am blessed with three wonderful grandchildren. Being a grandmother is the best role in the world, but it sometimes can be a balancing act when it comes to spoiling grandchildren. The following article from Healthy Living Made Simple speaks to that balance:
Offering Sweet Without the Sour
Establishing boundaries for spoiling grandchildren
by Dr. David Elkind
“The adage, ‘The more things change the more they remain the same,’ is as true for grandparenting as it is for so many facets of family life. Despite societal changes and advances in healthcare and technology that are allowing grandparents to take a more active role in the lives of their grandchildren, some facets remain the same. A prime example is the tendency for grandparents to spoil their grandchildren.
There are a variety of ways to spoil. Perhaps the most common is for grandparents to be a bit more lenient with their grandchildren than parents are. While this is usually harmless, a more risky form of spoiling is to give grandchildren more toys, more clothes or more devices than they may need or want. This tendency is understandable, but can stem from a number of different underlying motives, acting alone or in concert.”
David Elkind, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.