The arrival of a newborn is a matter of pride and joy in every family especially when you become grandparents. You might have been waiting for this exceptional moment for a long time. However, it is also a time when you should understand your roles and responsibilities as grandparents. The birth of a baby is a matter of great emotion for the mother as it involves a whole nine months of quite stressful and exhaustive period. After a baby is delivered, it needs utmost care, attention, and affection from everyone in the family. Your daughter-in-law might be undergoing her post-natal depression. She is having sleepless nights and hence you as grandparents have an important role to play here.
Instead of trying to impose your style of raising your children when they were small, try to lend a helping hand which will be helpful for the new parents. You should know your limits and boundaries. It is quite understandable that you are having an altogether new feeling and excited about the arrival of the new member but overstepping the boundaries can bring rifts in relationship. You should know to respect the privacy of new parents, who might want to spend more time on their own with the kid. Do not try to help too much as that can be perceived as your lack of confidence on your part by the parents.
The new parents have a better control over the baby’s nitty-gritty than the previous generation as they have access to internet, books on baby care and parenting, at their finger tip. Their approach to raising their baby will be naturally different from you and is expected to be much advanced. Hence, instead of trying to interfere, you can ask them about the book they are reading so that you can also go through it to learn some useful tips.
You need to understand the emotions that the new parents are going through as you have also been through the same phase years back. As a grandparent, your role is to encourage the new parents, asking them as to what can you do to help them during this time, providing help in household tasks, and may be look after the baby for an hour so that the new mom can get some sleep.
In case the new parents do not need any help from you, appreciate their independence. Do not expect that your son’s responsibility towards the family will be as same as before as he is also adjusting with the new member, dealing with child anxieties and emotions, getting tired after the entire day at his office, and then coming back home to help the new mom. You should be empathetic and praiseful towards the new parents. The new age mother might prefer her own parents to take care of the baby rather than you. It is a common psychology found in the most of the new moms as they are more comfortable with their own parents and sharing their emotions. You should take it sportingly to avoid any kind of misunderstanding in the future.
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