Plus, although today's grandparents may have busy lives, they likely aren't as overscheduled as their sons and daughters. Ties that bind Both Kornhaber and Kendrick acknowledge that when the grandparent-grandchild relationship has been nurtured it provides the child with a strong sense of emotional security. This truth has never been tested as much as in today's world where millions of grandchildren are being raised by their grandparents in the absence of or failure of their parents to care for them. Grandparents also provide children with a connection to the family's past. They give children a sense of where they came from, a defining element in their identity.
Grandparents are the keepers of the family history.
Children also like to hear from grandmothers and grandfathers stories about when their parents were little, preferably with the parent present in the room. These stories humanize the parent. Another valuable role that grandparents assume is that of teacher and mentor to their grandchildren. This kind of learning can include skills that are not readily taught today, such as tatting or wood whittling, but also learning about life as grandparents share the life experiences that made them who they are today. In this area the grandparent acts as the experienced guide or mentor to the grandchild.