Some Families With Children Burden Their Grandparents Too Much

Most grandparents enjoy being able to help care for and raise their grandchildren. They get to experience parenting again, but in a very different form. However, families are growing and grandchildren are getting older as the needs of families increase. This easily leads to more and more help from grandparents. Families can overburden grandparents, which can lead to serious mental and physical imbalances.

21st Century Grandparents

As society changes, so do family relationships. A few decades ago, 50-year-old grandparents were a very common sight. Today, children are raised even later, and it is common for grandparents to become grandparents only around the age of 70.

The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren can be very different in different families. The quality of a relationship depends on several factors, such as the grandparents ’relationship with their own child, the families’ residences, the children’s attitudes, and the prevailing culture.

In some families, grandparents play an important and visible role in raising grandchildren. Depending on the situation of the family, grandparents can be helped very often and regularly or only occasionally. Asking for help from time to time is usually not a problem for grandparents, but the constant need for help can make them stressed and tired.

Some families with children burden their grandparents too much

Constantly asking for help from grandparents can cause them both physical and emotional overload, which can lead to stress and thus serious mental and physical imbalances. Cardiologist Antonio Guijarro says he sees this very often, especially among adult housewives who take order, responsibility, dignity, humility and modesty seriously.

Psychologist Encarnación Liñá presents the answer to why some grandparents are particularly committed to the situation, even though it would have negative consequences for them. According to him, values ​​and education are the biggest reasons why grandparents feel it is their job to continue to support their children and these families. She also believes this is a way for grandparents to feel useful.

As we mentioned, at worst, overload causes grandparents either physical or emotional – or both – problems. Physical health effects include, for example, high blood pressure, tachycardia, hot flashes, dizziness, and weakness. As for the mental side, feeling bad can be very holistic. A grandparent may feel anxious, sad, or discouraged. All of these feelings can make a person suffer even more because he or she feels guilty about feeling bad.

Grandparents are a great support to take care of

There are numerous reasons for drifting into an overload condition. Many families need the help of grandparents, for example, for financial reasons or because of the length or time of shifts. Children are cheaper and easier to leave for grandparent care than to be taken to day care. If parents work shifts, arranging a nursing home can be very challenging.

Every family should find a balance between responsibilities and abilities and coping. Only in this way can the excessive burden of grandparents and the possible physical and mental inconvenience be avoided with certainty.