3 Ways to Connect with Your Grandparents at Any Age
Family bonds are some of the most important bonds that we will form in our lifetimes. Once you enter adulthood, keeping up with your own parents can seem like a chore at times. This is why many of us are looking for ways that we can better connect with the members that are outside of our immediate family. The bond you have with your grandparents is especially important since you likely will have less time to bond with them then you would with the younger members of your extended family. So start forming deeper connections with your grandparents today using these three methods.
- Video Calls
Video calls are going to be one of the best ways to interact with your grandparents at a distance. Especially during the pandemic. In the early days of the global health crisis, many of us were not able to see our grandparents. We all understood that the older generations were more vulnerable, and we did everything we could to protect them which included staying away from them. While things have begun to return to some semblance of normalcy in 2022, many people still don’t feel comfortable being around the elderly. And that is where video calls come in! The experience of seeing someone while you talk creates the opportunity for deeper connections. However, many of us also realized that grandma and grandpa don’t exactly have the best handle on technology. If you have been struggling to help your grandparents figure out how to facetime, check out these apps for grandparents. These apps make it easier for you to have a seamless conversation with your technologically challenged family.
- Create a Highlight Reel
If you are a long distance from your grandparents or you are not able to spend as much in person time with them as you would like, try sending them a montage of your life highlights. This can be done in a variety of different ways depending on the type of content you have and how you would like to present it. If you want something a bit more permanent or a keepsake option, try a photobook. Photobooks come in all shapes and sizes and at a variety of price points. They are incredibly easy to make and are a great way to let your family members into your life in a more personal way. Making a photo book is as simple as heading to the retailer’s website, selecting the size and type of book that you want to create, and then uploading your photos directly from your Iphone. Then you will receive your printed and bound photo book in the mail. Use these to showcase a collection of family vacation photos or a year in your kids lives so they feel included in things they didn’t get to experience. For more information on residential aged care please visit Melbourne Aged Care Group
Another great way to give your grandparents a look at your special moments is with a video montage. Getting to hear your voice and see you experience things that they missed out on is one of the most heartwarming ways to connect at a distance. There are several ways that you can accomplish this. If you have basic editing skills, video clips can be easily edited together on the free iMovie software or even on your iPhone. You may not realize that your iPhone will edit together short videos that are made up of similar photos and videos on your camera roll. And it does this completely on its own. These are a couple easy ways for you to get a highlight reel over to your grandparents. But you can also take it a step further and use one of the many websites online that can help you generate a more professional looking video. So if you have zero idea of how to edit videos yourself, you have some great options.
- Make Time
This may seem like a given but the most significant thing you can do to strengthen your connection with your grandparents is to dedicate time to them. Make sure you are setting aside time each week to check in with them. When you do, ask them meaningful questions about their life. They have been around a lot longer and they all have a unique set of experiences that differ greatly from ours. It would be a shame to go through life without ever getting to ask your grandparents about what growing up was like for them, or what it was like as they were raising your parents.
No matter what the content of your conversations is, if grandparents know that they are important to you, you are doing a great job. At the end of the day your grandma and grandpa will take pride in knowing that they get to be a part of your busy life. And it will help them to know that you love and care for them the same way they do for you.