Grandparents’ Day highlights bonds across generations

Sunday marks World Grandparents’ Day, ERR reports. More than 330,000 grandparents live in Estonia, including over 210,000 grandmothers and more than 120,000 grandfathers. The average grandparent has three grandchildren, while 17 grandmothers have more than 30 grandchildren.

ERR spoke to Eeva Laanemäe, the grandmother of a four-year-old girl, about the meaning of the day and relationships between generations.

Laanemäe said Grandparents’ Day was not celebrated during her youth. Instead, she remembers the time she spent visiting her only grandmother, who lived far away.

“My grandmother cooked, told us her stories, we listened, and she gave us books to read that she had read herself,” Laanemäe said.

She said the most important thing was for people from different generations to spend time together and share their stories.

“We are not all here forever, and the time we have to spend together is short,” she said.

Laanemäe said trust between generations grows when parents and grandparents spend time with children. Her own parents had been present for her children, taking them on trips and to museums and spending entire days with them.

Now that her children’s grandparents have died, Laanemäe said she wants to spend as much time as possible with her granddaughter and share her memories and ideas with her.

She also urged parents to pay attention to their own use of computers and smartphones. Going outside with children, exercising, visiting a playground and talking with them can help keep them engaged without devices, she said.

Laanemäe said adults should listen to children’s opinions rather than belittling them or telling them what to think.

“We have to take them into account and listen to their opinions,” she said. “Perhaps they develop their own thoughts about how other people behave and how things are done at school, and we have to listen to them.”

She said her granddaughter had taught her patience and shown her how much children need attention. The child also enjoys exchanging ideas, discussing different subjects and visiting interesting places, Laanemäe said.