Grandparents spoil their grandchildren better with time than with gifts

If the grandparents come to visit, there is often a small gift or sweets for the grandchildren. That's quite normal and many grandmas and grandfathers enjoy making the little ones happy. However, the alleged pampering through gifts does not always do the children well - so spending time together should be the main focus.
Gifts can overwhelm children too
Whether chocolate, the doll from the shop window or the long-awaited race car: Many grandparents enjoy to pamper their grandchildren. What is perfectly normal in a normal setting can quickly get out of hand and go in the wrong direction. "With gifts, children are often completely overloaded, that does not do them any good," explains Ursula Lenz in an interview with the news agency "dpa".

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Instead, time should be spent with the children, because that is what is often too short - even if the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren today considered a whole lot closer and heartier than in earlier times. According to the Deutsches Jugendinstitut, more than a third of children in nursery and kindergarten classes regularly spend time with their grandmothers or grandfathers, and children in their first year of school are looked after by their grandparents even more than 40% at least once a week.

Stay awake with grandma and grandpa is one of them
Accordingly, "pampering" should, depending on the age of the grandchild, be mean to make a trip together. "It does not have to be spectacular, go to the zoo or read it to the zoo", says the expert from the Federal Association of Senior Citizens Organizations. If the kids stay overnight, Ursula Lenz thinks they are fine too, if the kids, for once, stay awake for one or two hours longer than usual. "That's a bit special about visiting grandparents."

Everything else, however, should not be decided on one's own initiative, but discussed in advance with the parents in order to avoid conflicts. "For example, special nutritional principles should already be considered as grandparents, so agree about a visit to the fast food restaurant." Even with gifts, an agreement can help to find out what the child especially like or to avoid double purchases. (No)