The following tips should help adoptive parents prepare grandparents for their new role:
Grandparents should:
1. Continue to follow any family tradition to include the newly adopted child.
2. Treat all grandchildren equally. This includes not only forms of discrimination but also an over emphasize on being ‘special”
3. Find positive traits it their grandchild and enjoy getting to know them.
4. Brag about them: it is a grandparents right to do so.
5. Take pictures and show them off.
6. Recognize that any child that is adopted trans-racially will experience prejudice and be prepared for it.
7. Recognize that the child is a permanent member of the family. Acknowledge familiar family traits: he walks like Uncle David, she her Mother’s laugh.
Labels: Adoption Awareness, Adoption Support, bonding, Family, Heritage, Kids and Teens, Parenting, Pre-adoption Education