How to raise happy healthy granddaughters
If you’re the grandparent of a girl, you might be wondering how you can help raise her to be a strong, independent woman of the world.
Teach her how to love herself
Girls can often feel pressure to look a certain way and try to fit into other people’s stereotypes of beauty. Teach her to see her reflection in the mirror as more than just skin deep. Show her all the things that her body can do besides just look nice – it can run, jump, cuddle, reach, swim and dance. Interact with her by talking about her character rather than how she looks. Remind her that most women are not supermodels and even the ones that are have a heck of a lot of makeup and retouching done to their photographs.
Show her that nobody actually is perfect
If your granddaughter feels pressure to do well at school, look nice, be sociable, polite and popular – it can all get too much. This constant battle to be perfect can set her up to feel like a constant failure when things don’t go according to plan. Let her know that her interesting yet imperfect self is the very reason that you love her so much, and that she should always be herself rather than the person that other people want her to be.
Help her find her niche
Every child has something that they are naturally good at and enjoy doing. Help her find hers. It could be gardening, looking after pets, music, a sport, or something academic. Ask her what she would do in her spare time if she could do anything that she wanted to do. This will often help her find what she truly loves doing.
Stay connected with her
Life gets busy, and your granddaughter might feel as though you don’t always have time for her to interact with on a deeper level. Instead of always asking general questions such as “how’s school going”, ask more personal questions about her friends, her hopes, her dreams, her worries. Over time she will value your time chatting together about more than just the day to day.