by Dawn Hawkins

Created on: January 14, 2009

Becoming a grandparent is one of the most precious gifts that you will ever receive in this life. It is filled with more wonderful moments than one person can handle. The greatness of this newfound thing that we call grand parenting is that we can go see the babies when we want to, take them where we want to and only when we want to. If you found yourself in a situation that you have taken on a more involved direction with your grandchildren for whatever the reasons are, much of that joy is taken away from you. That is also when there becomes a fine line between your grand parenting role and your parenting role. Exactly when should a grandparent resort to attaining custody of their grandchildren? Let's look at it closely.

I live in a County where drug use runs rampant. Our young people are dying by the handfuls from heroin and other types of drug overdoses. Most frequently it is heroin. Those that aren't overdosing or haven't died are doing other things. They steal from their families to get their next fix. They have unprotected sex and create other little lives. These little lives are the ones that I worry about the most. The reason that I bring this to your attention is because of personal knowledge of just such a situation. Someone that I know very well has taken on the role of raising their grandchild.

Drug abuse wouldn't be the only problem that would concern a grandparent. We also have homelessness, the parent being unwilling to work, abuse of any kind and lack of parenting skills. These are all issue that should be addressed. If you look at each one closely you will see that there is potential for other plans to be set into place before trying to gain custody. The only exceptions to this rule are abuse and drug abuse in the home.

Before deciding on taking this huge step back into parenthood you should look at all options and give them a fair shake before you jump into the role of the grandparent who parents their grandchildren.

1. Teach- As with anything else, we must teach our children to be good parents. That should take place while they are growing up. They will learn to be good parents if you are a good role model for them. However, that doesn't guarantee that your children will be good parents. Therefore, if you find that your child lacks the proper parenting skills, there is hope. Take on the role of teaching them the proper way to do things. Don't make it obvious that you think they don't have what it takes to raise their child. This will only make

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>